The Difference Between
by Capatia
Summary: AU. In a modern world where humans and demons live in harmony, a secret organization suddenly comes into power and launches a human genocide. On the run, Kagome finds herself all alone in a world that's out to get her. That is until she runs into Inuyasha Takahashi; half-dog demon and full-time rebel gang leader with a bad attitude. Full summary inside. InuKag MirSan SessRin
1. Prologue

**A.N.: **Hello, and thanks for clicking on my story! This prologue may be short, but you'll find that the actual chapters are long. If it does not make much sense to you right now, that is because it is depicting a very important moment from a scene that will happen much later in the story. I hope that you find that this fanfiction is worth your time and commitment, and I certainly hope that you do not click away anytime soon. (The full summary and all of that good stuff can be found at the beginning of the first chapter.)

**The Difference Between**

Prologue

"Inu...yasha…"

He was staring at her; his eyes wide with…shock? Rage? It was hard to tell.

It was hard to do anything. She wasn't even sure if his name had escaped her lips. As far as she could tell she was completely paralyzed, and the persistent ringing in her ears had drowned out the world around her. She was stuck to the wall with invisible tacks, her environment spinning around her in silence. First, Inuyasha said something. By lip reading alone she guessed that it was her name. Then something happened to make his expression go blank and rigid. An expanding circle of red appeared on the stomach of his T-shirt and he fell forward.

"_Inuyasha!"_

She still could not hear herself speak. She tried to reach for him, but her arms felt like they weighed six hundred pounds each. No, if they weighed that much she could at least feel herself struggling to lift them. She was completely limp, and her body had been rendered completely unresponsive to her brain's commands. She began to wonder if she was even alive.

Inuyasha's shaking arms reached for the desk to pull himself up. He was still alive at least, for now.

His attacker smugly approached the struggling Inuyasha and stepped on his hand, crushing it to the floor before it could reach the desk. The attacker…who was it? This was not the person Kagome had expected. She tried to focus on the attacker's face but it was difficult to focus on anything. The world was still spinning and the images that her brain processed were glitchy-pixelating and layering over one another at times. She tried to concentrate again, then a lamp on the desk would suddenly come into focus. She tried once more to no avail. The attacker's face—the curtains…the attacker's face—a wig…the attacker's face—a gun.

_A gun!_

The attacker had left the gun lying on the windowsill. If only she could move, maybe she could reach it. Maybe she could still save Inuyasha. Even if she died, maybe Inuyasha could still live.

The attacker was saying something to him as he pressed the tip of his sword into his gunshot wound. Inuyasha withered in pain and opened his mouth wide in a scream.

_No! Please—_stop_!_ Neither the attacker or Inuyasha heard her pleas.

The gun. She had to get to the gun. She summoned up every ounce of strength that she could muster and tried to lift her foot. Nothing happened. Invisible pins still held her firmly to the wall.

As she stared out at the attacker killing Inuyasha right in front of her, she had a sudden burst of clarity. This was it. This was the difference between humans and demons. Ever since the invasions began, she had asked herself the question many times. Now she knew the difference. A human was useless in a situation such as this. A human would be helplessly stuck to the wall like an idiot. A human could not save Inuyasha.

"Ka…go…me…"

She had heard his voice. The ringing in her ears had suddenly stopped, and her ability to hear had returned. Her eyes darted towards Inuyasha's face. She could now focus properly; no more glitching. He met her eyes.

"Ka…go…me… I-I…"

He was dying. He was trying to say something to her. She could tell it was something important—something that she needed her to know; some sort of last words or final goodbye. He was interrupted by the blade of the sword being pushed deeper into his back; ripping past already damaged muscle tissue and making its way to his spine.

The sound of his agonizing scream surrounded her. She could hear better than ever before—she could _see _better than ever before; _feel _better than ever before. The world had stopped spinning. Time itself had slowed down. The planets, the stars, and even the sun had abandoned their natural cycle to revolve around this one moment in time. All the world ceased to exist. There were no humans and demons-there was only Kagome and Inuyasha, and no matter what happened in the next thirty seconds, that's all there would ever be.

And without hesitation or difficulty, Kagome took a running start away from the wall.


	2. Late

**Disclaimer: **InuYasha, you say? Why, I've never owned such a thing in my life!

* * *

**Full Summary: **Kagome Higurashi is content with her life attending the famous East Tokyo High, her close friends and boyfriend of nine months, Kouga Ookami by her side. But soon after hearing hushed talk of a secret organization called the DIO, she is drawn to the heart of a terrible struggle-a struggle born of missing humans and rebel gangs, a power-hungry demon and a world wide conspiracy. Amongst the chaos that ensues, she finds herself all alone in a world that's out to get her. That is, until she runs into Inuyasha Takahashi; half dog-demon and full-time rebel gang leader with a bad attitude. On an epic journey to find her friends and save all of humanity from a modern day holocaust, Kagome must rely on the help of Inuyasha and the other rebels. _Alternate Universe (modern day Japan) InuyashaKagome MirokuSango SesshoumaruRin ((And others!)) _

**A.N.: **I present to you Chapter 1 of _The Difference Between_ which was originally titled _How the World Works. _I've viciously edited the chapters that already exist, and I have already written a full ten more chapters that will be published in due time. (I'll probably post one a week.) Until then, enjoy!

Chapter 1

Late

"_There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them." ~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar._

Kagome Higurashi awoke with a deep yawn and a heavenly stretch, friendly rays of the morning sun warm on her face. Half-conscious, she listened to the combination of robins chirping and the wind rustling the branches of nearby trees outside of her bedroom window. She sleepily enjoyed the morning sounds as she stretched her muscles once more and finally opened her eyes to greet the day.

And what a beautiful day it was! Though one eye was blocked by her overstuffed pillow, through the other she could see the sun pouring into the open blinds of her window in horizontal streaks, illuminating every speck of dust and strand of cat hair that floated lazily in its path. Light breeze from the ceiling fan above moved the hair around her face about so that it gently tickled her cheek and neck. It was nothing short of a perfect morning.

Her body lay in complete comfort as her brain lightly planned out the rest of her day. She would start her morning off with a warm cup of herbal tea, and then an hour bath with her favorite book. Oh, and she could finally use the lavender bath oil that her mom had gotten her for her birthday last week- she was smiling just _thinking _about it! After that, what could be more refreshing than a quiet bike ride through the park? When she got in, she could spend the rest of the day curled up on the couch with Buyo, watching her dramas and painting her toenails for the first day of school…

"SCHOOL!"

Kagome nearly fell off of her bed as she violently swiped the alarm clock from her nightstand.

"Eight Fifteen! _Oh noooo!_" She groaned and cursed the world as she turned the clock around to see that the tiny switch with the picture of the vibrating clock above it was on the 'off' side. "Ohhh, I set the alarm for seven but forgot to turn the dumb thing on. Class started at eight! How could I be so stupid?" Today was the first day of sophomore year, and Kagome Higuarashi was already fifteen minutes late.

Kagome, when she wasn't in bed daydreaming, attended the famous East Tokyo High along with forty-three hundred other students. There was nothing particularly special or extraordinary about her and she knew it. Of the two and a half thousand other girls that attend East Tokyo, probably more than half of them were prettier than her and even more than that were smarter than her. She could barely pass her math classes, and her GPA was hovering just over a 3.0. Being a human, she was nowhere near competitive in the athletic department either. She had a bland personality, not being especially funny, outgoing, or clever. She wasn't popular, but she was happy with the friends that she had: Sango Taijaya, her best friend since elementary school; Miroku Houshi, Sango's boyfriend of two years; Rin Taisho, who she met in junior high; and her own boyfriend of nine months, Kouga Ookami. As she grabbed her cell phone off of her dresser to throw in her backpack, she noticed that three out of four of those people had texted her today, probably wondering where in the heck she was. No time for that though; she had to get ready and _fast_.

In a hurry, Kagome fell once trying to get her legs through a fresh pair of undies and then again in an attempt to put on the skirt of her uniform. Once she was back on her feet, she grabbed a pair of white stockings that were hanging over the back of her desk chair and the brown, leather penny loafers in the bottom of her closet. As she was rolling a sock over her knee, she looked up and caught a terrifying glimpse of her herself in the full length mirror that hung on the back of her bedroom door.

"_Eeek!_ I can't show up at school looking like this!"

Her long black hair fell down her back in matted, greasy sections that were knotted and sticking out in places. Her bangs lay flat with grease against her forehead, and her nose was shiny with oils that must have snuck out from deep within her pores during the night and had a party on her face as she slept. Her eyebrows, that she had neatly plucked just the other day, had apparently decided that they weren't going to let her face slime have all the fun, and several coarse, black hairs had crept out of their follicles to join the midnight party. She was in dire need of a shower and tweezers, but the clock on her nightstand reminded her that she was officially twenty minutes late for the first day of school.

So Kagome took a deep breath, she brushed her hair out the best she could, and tied it up with her favorite green scrunchie. She slipped on her shoes, grabbed her back pack and snuck out the front door while being careful not to wake her grandfather who was sleeping in the recliner. Despite the fact that she was peddling as fast as humanly possible, receiving countless odd looks from passerby, the ride to East Tokyo High still took a valuable ten minutes and she spent another five trying to find an unoccupied place to chain up her bicycle.

"Sorrry!" she yelled back to a group of boys in track uniforms, one of whose foot she had ran over when she spotted a telephone pole to secure her bike to.

Even though she was in a hurry, Kagome couldn't help but find the time to get that fluttery 'first day of school' feeling when she reached the long marble steps that led to the entrance of the five-story-high, one-hundred-sixty-five-thousand square foot building. She remembered how frightened she was a year ago as she walked up these same steps on the first day of her freshman year. Her grandfather had insisted that she go to a smaller, private school but her mother wouldn't have that. Ms. Higurashi herself had been forced to go to a small, private, all-human school when she was her daughter's age because Kagome's grandmother and grandfather were frightened of the idea of human and demon togetherness as were many people following the Anti-Separation Movement.

Before Kagome's mother was born, a thing existed called "Separation". The idea was to separate human and demons who, to say the least, were constantly going at it. From the moment humans and demons evolved into what they are, demons were aware that they were much stronger than their human counter parts, and they used their power and knowledge in horrific ways. Humans were slaughtered, raped and devoured on a daily basis in Japan's Feudal Era. This all changed however when man invented the gun. Humans found that with mechanical weaponry they could easily kill the majority of demons who plagued them, but, unfortunately, they let their desire for vengeance over power their moral principles. Demons were more or less being exterminated.

For many, many years there was nothing but constant strife between the two species. That is, up until the 1600's; when most governments of the world were becoming more organized and civil. They realized that they couldn't be effective under such chaos, and acted almost as frustrated parents would by separating the humans and demons from each other. The movement was aptly named "Separation". Humans lived in certain districts while demons lived in others, and it was forbidden to cross into the other's territory. Things still weren't completely fair, however. Politics were humanly dominated, and it would be a very long time before demons were represented in government. This issue wouldn't be addressed for hundreds of years, however.

Separation worked fairly well and kept things peaceful for the most part, but it wasn't long before open-minded youths of the human and demon species began questioning the division. They snuck past the metaphorical walls that divided them and made both friends and lovers of different species. This was how the Anti-Separation movement came about. The Anti-Separation chapters of Kagome's history books had always been her favorite, and she had even picked up a few autobiographies at the library about the first-hand experiences of individual humans and demons who fell in love during this period of segregation and were forced to see each other in secrecy. Sango would roll her eyes in disgust as Kagome flipped through the pages of such stories, giggling and 'awwing'.

After a lot of debate and political pish-posh all over the world, several countries decided to do away with Separation altogether, and many people, humans and demons alike, spread out all over the country. Before you knew it, humans and demons were living in the same neighborhoods, going to the same schools, and even getting married and having children together. Unfortunately, even after all of this, many members of the human species were skeptical of the change and still greatly feared the demons that were now allowed to live with them. Kagome's grandmother and grandfather were a good example of such people. But over the years her grandpa had lightened up a bit and even said that his granddaughter's full-blooded, wolf demon boyfriend was a "very nice young man".

So in the end Kagome's mother got her way, and her daughter was enrolled into East Tokyo High-one of the largest, most diverse and well known high schools in all of Japan. Every kind of sport, activity, and club imaginable existed at East Tokyo. The school had its own basketball team, swim team, baseball team, football team, golf team, volleyball team, bat mitten team, soccer team, lacrosse team, chess team, and countless others. Some of which, like the extreme Frisbee or rock-skipping team, was a bit over-doing-it in Kagome's opinion.

East Tokyo, however, wasn't just known for its competitive sports, its diversity, or even its academic success, but also for its sheer physical beauty. While many other schools in the area looked like large brick cubes with windows, East Tokyo was made up of many shapes and colors; a mixture of marble, stone, and glass that created a breathtaking architectural masterpiece.

The school consisted of five levels, the last four of which were the domain of a particular class. The bottom level belonged to the lobby, gymnasium, auditorium, library, cafeteria, and the offices of the principal, assistant principle, and guidance counselor. Because Kagome was now a sophomore, all of her classes would be in the third story; last year they were in the second and next year they would be in the fourth. A long spiral staircase led from the fifth story, where the senior classrooms were, to the top of the school's famous astronomy tower, more than one hundred feet above the ground. East Tokyo's astronomy tower, where only teachers and A.P. Astronomy students were allowed, was one of the things that made the school special, and although Kagome had signed up for Astronomy in hopes that next year she could see the inside of the tower for herself, right now she would probably give the whole experience up if she could just make it to first period before the bell rang for second.

She sprinted up two flights of stairs with her class schedule in hand, rounded a hallway, and quickly read off the engraved numbers above the doors as they blurred past.

"Room #204, 205... 210... 217, 219… There! Room #221!"

She looked down at the piece of crinkled paper in her hand to confirm that she was in the right place. The last thing she needed was to burst into the wrong classroom like an idiot.

**Higurashi, Kagome/ Grade 10/ Student No. 131188631**

**1st Period-Biology I-Classroom #221**

**2nd Period-Algebra II-Classroom #245**

**3rd Period-Health and P.E. II-Gymnasium**

**4th Period-World History-Classroom #207**

**5th Period-Japanese Literature-Classroom #291**

**6th Period-Astronomy I-Classroom #233**

Yep, this was it. A sickening, nervous feeling formed in her stomach as she hesitantly knocked twice on the wooden door in front of her only to realize that she didn't know how she was going to explain her forty-five minute tardy to the teacher once he or she opened the door.

_What am I going to say? I overslept? What kind of first impression is that? She's going to think I'm a complete slacker. Or what if it's a he? A strict, insensitive, 'no nonsense', scary man teacher who'll call me out in front of the entire class for being late? Ohhhh, I should have just stayed home! I could have said I was sick and my teacher wouldn't have hated me for the rest of the year. It's still not to late…_

And Kagome may have run away if the door hadn't opened before she had time to consider the idea any further.

However, the person standing at the door wasn't an angry-faced man at all, but a beautiful, young, female fox demon.

"Hello young lady, can I help you?"

She was a little taller than Kagome and her red hair fell in long, wavy locks in front of her shoulders and down her back. On top of her head was a pair of furry, red fox ears, and a bushy red, white-tipped tail peaked out from behind her. Her countenance appeared friendly, and her lips held a warm smile that made Kagome feel a little less frightened.

"Hi. Um, this is my class." She grinned nervously. "S-sorry for being late."

Kagome half expected the smile to disappear from her face altogether when she realized that the girl at her door was a tardy student, but no such thing happened.

"Oh, well come on in." The teacher stepped aside so that Kagome could enter the classroom. "What's your name?"

"Kagome… Um, Higurashi, Kagome. Sorry."

As the teacher scribbled something in the attendance book, Kagome scanned the classroom for familiar faces. Her heart jumped for joy when she saw her best friend Sango, her head propped up by her hand and her eyes closed, fast asleep at a desk in the second row.

The teacher turned back toward Kagome, a warm smile on her face and fox ears erect. "You weren't here during roll call so I counted you absent, but now everything is all fixed Miss Kagome." Kagome was distracted by the woman's ears and didn't reply until she realized that she was holding out a very thick text book titled _The World of Biology._ She took it, feeling a little embarrassed and hoping the teacher hadn't noticed her staring at the top of her head. There had always been something about ears like her new teacher's that made Kagome almost giddy. As a little girl she had deeply longed for furry, demon ears of her own and wore a pair of faux neko-ears on her head, refusing to take them off for nearly four months straight.

"Oh, wow, thanks!" She wasn't going to be counted tardy after all. There was no way that she was completely off the hook, was there? She almost felt guilty.

"No, it's fine dear. First days are always a little hectic." She waved it off like it was no big deal. "Wait, you don't know my name do you? Silly me… It's Akito, Yumi. You can call me Mrs. Akito or sensei, but if you see me outside of school…" She leaned toward Kagome and cupped her hand around her mouth like she was getting ready to tell a secret. "… feel free to call me Yumi." She gave a little wink.

Kagome bowed her head politely. "Thank you very much Mrs. Akito. I promise not to be late tomorrow."

Since Sango was asleep, and the low hum of conversation filled the room, Kagome assumed that Mrs. Akito had decided not to give them an assignment on the first day.

_Not only is the teacher nice, but it looks like the class is going to be easy too!_

She took her new text book and sit at the nearest empty desk from her snoozing friend, feeling very relieved and a little hopeful that maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.

"_Pssst… Sango_!"

When her friend didn't budge, Kagome pulled a notebook from her backpack, tore out a sheet of paper, crinkled it into a wad, and threw it at the back of Sango's head.

"Who the hell?"

When Sango looked around the classroom for the person who had dared disturb her nap, she saw her best friend sitting a few desks away, waving and smiling, and her anger faded completely. Her murderous scowl transformed into an excited grin.

"Kagome! What are you doing here?"

"This is my class. Can you believe it?"

"Oh, that's great! Way to be…" She looked toward the clock above the board. "…almost an hour late though. Where exactly were you this morning? I texted you a least twenty times. And why do you look like you haven't showered in three days?"

She ignored Sango's last comment and scooted her chair up to her best friend, explaining her frantic morning and her lack of time to take a shower.

"I'm guessing you didn't have time to brush your teeth or wash your stockings either? You're breath smells horrible."

Kagome sighed at the unnecessary remark about her breath, but blinked when she heard the mention of her stockings.

"Clean stockings?"

"Oh you didn't know?" Sango blinked. "Your stockings have big brown blotches all over them."

"_What?"_

She looked down to see that her should-be-white socks were indeed covered in brown stains from her ankles all the way to her knees.

"Noo! I was in a hurry and must've grabbed the pair I wore yesterday by mistake." The same pair that she was wearing when she had accidently drove her bike into a huge mud puddle. "Ohh…"

Just then the bell rang for second period and all of Kagome's pervious hopes for a good first day of school vanished. She said goodbye to her best friend and headed off in the direction of her next class, already wishing for the day to be over.

Second period, if possible, was even worse. A short, plump, woman named Ms. Natsuya was the teacher. She _appeared_ to be human, but she must've been some sort of evil witch in disguise.

"Miss Higurashi, why did you fail to bring a pencil to my class? Are you aware that Algebra II is a _math _class? Most of the work done in here involves trial and error; that means a lot of erasing. A pen just won't do, especially when someone of your previous math record is holding it. Now, take a seat and please wear clean stockings the next time you enter my classroom."

Needless to say, Kagome knew right off the bat that this would be her least favorite class and not just because her teacher hated her or for the fact that she was horrible at math, but also because she didn't know any of the other classmates which meant that it was going to be awkward asking for help with the assigments. Well technically she _did_ know Ayame Wind, her boyfriend Kouga's crazy ex-girlfriend who he happened to break up with for Kagome, but she highly doubted that Ayame had anything nice to say to her.

To prove this thought, Ayame yelled "What happened to your socks, Higurashi? On your knees _in the mud?_" This made the group of equally nasty girls that sat around her giggle. Kagome clenched her fists and blushed a little at the implication that she not only did such things, but did them in the mud, though decided it was probably best not to counter insult the full-blooded wolf demon who could probably rip her head off of her shoulders without much effort. Even if she had a fighting chance, Kagome was pretty sure that this particular teacher would punish her as severely as the principal, school board, and prime minister would allow. She took a seat near the window, farthest away from the group and sat alone fuming, bothered not only by Ayame's comment but more so by the little smirk on Ms. Natsuya's face after it had been said.

When the bell finally rang, she almost ran out of the classroom, eager to escape her math class and all who were in it. Third period was P.E. which wasn't exactly her favorite subject, but nothing could get much worse than Algebra. When she entered the gymnasium she was delighted to see a person just as dear to her as Sango standing on the sidelines, watching a volleyball game and already in uniform.

"Rin!" Kagome yelled from across the gym.

Rin suddenly became alert-kind of like a puppy does when it hears a whistle from someone they can't see. Her curious eyes scanned the room and a huge smile parted her lips when she saw that Kagome was in the same P.E. class with her.

"Kagome-channn!" Rin ran toward Kagome with open arms like she hadn't seen her in years. As she darted past the volleyball net, a volleyball came out of nowhere, hitting Rin square in the face and knocking her to the ground.

Rin was the clumsiest, most scatterbrained and accident prone person Kagome had ever known. Though it was a little harsh to say, she was literally bad at everything she did, except of course at being a friend. Anyone who was lucky enough to know Rin knew that if a friendship class existed at East Tokyo High, Rin would definitely pass with an "A+". Rin had never known her biological parents and lived at Cherry Blossom Children's Home with twenty other kids who she all claimed as her brothers and sisters. But to her, no one was more like family than Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and lately, even Kouga.

Kagome changed into her uniform while Rin made a visit to the nurse (The nurse was very familiar with Rin). When she came out of the locker room Rin was already sitting on the bottom row of seats in the bleachers, holding an ice pack to her head.

"Does it hurt?" Kagome asked, taking a seat beside her.

"Just a little, but I'm okay. That time I jumped off the diving board and hit my head on the bottom of the pool was much worse than this." She giggled.

Kagome sighed. This girl could probably get her legs chopped off and laugh about it the next day. She couldn't recall a time when Rin had ever been pessimistic or even unhappy. She was extremely kind and trusted everyone, and if it wasn't for Kagome, Sango, and even the proclaimed pervert Miroku, Rin would probably go off alone with any creep guy who asked, their real intentions not even crossing her mind.

"Um… Kagome," Rin said quietly, suddenly looking a bit nervous.

"Yes?"

"Well, I couldn't help but notice your socks..."

_Not the sock thing again. "_Yeah, you're not the first to point them out. I grabbed the wrong pair by mis-…"

"No," Rin said, interrupting her explanation. "I was just going to say th-that you can wear my socks! I mean, we can trade for today. "

Sometimes Rin's kindness was enough to make Kagome feel guilty even when she hadn't done anything wrong. "Forget it Rin, you're not walking around school for the rest of the day wearing my dirty socks."

"No, no, I really don't mind!" Rin shook her head vigorously so that her light brown pig-tails swung from side to side. "They're actually kind of pretty! Like brown polka dots or something!"

Kagome sighed. It was just like her to compare muddy blotches to brown polka dots, but there was no way that she would accept Rin's sickeningly selfless offer. However, she knew that the small girl in front of her with the ice pack on her head wouldn't be satisfied until she was wearing her friend's mud-stained stockings, so she quickly changed the subject to their class schedules. She was happy to learn that she would also see Rin in her fifth period Japanese literature class.

The P.E. teacher, an overweight male Neko (who she noticed had orange, furry ears), was kind enough to allow Kagome to sit on the bleachers with her injured friend today, but she was sure that tomorrow she would be forced to do stretches and play volleyball with the other girls. For today the two friends conversed until the lunch bell rang and then walked to the cafeteria together.

East Tokyo's cafeteria was as extravagant and over elaborate as everything else in the school. Most schools had several different lunch periods but East Tokyo only had one. With the vast amount of students, one would think that this would be a problem. That is, of course, until they saw East Tokyo High's lunchroom.

The cafeteria as a whole was extremely large, bigger than any other room in the entire school, including the gymnasium. It was split up into four different sections, one for each class, and each one having four available lunch bars so that line size was minimized. The sections of the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes were separated by thick, glass walls so that one class could see a neighboring class eating. As a student grew from a freshman to a senior at East Tokyo High, they would notice that the cafeteria gradually improved as they moved up. The freshman section, for example, was nicer than any _other_ school's cafeteria but still the dullest and least attractive one at East Tokyo. The floor was made of ordinary white tiles with subtle specks of blue and pink. The white walls were covered in friendly posters that reminded students that "Milk Makes Bones Strong!", "Carrots Give You Fiber!", and "Don't Drink After Your Friends!" The students sat at round, wooden tables on plastic blue chairs.

The sophomore's cafeteria, where Kagome would now eat, was a bit better. The floor tiles were a light blue and the walls half yellow and half stone. It also offered smaller tables for couples as well as booths like in a restaurant.

"Do you think Miroku and Kouga-san will still eat lunch with us this year, Kagome?" Rin asked as they sat at a table near the back.

Kagome knew why she had asked. This year Kouga and Miroku were both seniors, and everyone knew that the senior lunchroom was the place to be at East Tokyo High. A student wasn't allowed to go into a lunchroom of a higher class, so Kagome had never really seen it of course, though she had heard rumors that involved flat-screen televisions, laptops, an ice-cream dispenser, and karaoke on Fridays. The wall between the junior and senior cafeteria was the only one that wasn't glass so not even juniors could get a glimpse of it.

"I don't know Rin, maybe."

"Oh, I hope so. Kouga and Miroku make you and Sango-chan so happy."

Kagome smiled. She couldn't deny that what Rin said was true. No one would suspect it from how much they argued, but sometimes Kouga Ookami was the only person in the world who could make her happy. Maybe he was just what she needed on a day like today-that is if he wasn't too fascinated at the wonders of the senior cafeteria.

Kagome and Rin's class was one of the first to go to lunch so the cafeteria was nearly empty when they got there, but in a period of five minutes it was completely packed with hungry students, the sound of laughter and conversation filling the air. It wasn't long until Sango and, to Kagome's dismay, Hojo had joined their table.

The previous year Kagome and Hojo had every class together. In the beginning she had enjoyed his company and in her naivety she thought he was just an extremely friendly, nice guy, but as time passed Hojo made it clear that he wanted more than just friendship. The first time he asked her out Kagome had politely refused. The second and third time she remained flattered, but, nevertheless, could not return his feelings. The twenty-fourth time, she began to get a little annoyed. Even when she and Kouga had started dating he didn't hesitate to call or text her ten times a day until Kouga happily confronted him about it. The ordeal left Hojo with a broken nose, Kouga with a mark on his permanent record, and Kagome with nothing to say to Kouga for almost two weeks.

"Sango!"

Rin jumped up and embraced Sango in a tackling hug before she could sit down but suddenly became embarrassed at the sight of Hojo and pulled away.

"Um, hi Hojo-kun," she said bashfully, looking downward.

"Hello Rin," he replied, not taking his eyes off Kagome. "Nice to see you Kagome, how was your summer?"

_Ugh! Don't care about me, care about her! _Kagome inwardly groaned. Rin had had a crush on Hojo since last year, which made her feel terrible even though Rin continuously reminded her that it wasn't her fault. Why couldn't Hojo be interested in a girl that was actually interested in him? "It's been fine Hojo, yours?"

"Nice, but kind of disappointing. I mean, I didn't see you all summer. I tried calling but I couldn't get you."

_That's because I blocked your number. _"Oh really? Something must be wrong with my phone." Kagome laughed nervously.

"Oh. Do you want me to take it to my uncle? He's a cell phone repairman, you know. I'm sure he'd take a look at yours for free." Hojo smiled eagerly, as if he was thinking: "_Yes! I knew my cell phone-fixing uncle was going to come in handy one day! She's bound to like me now!" _Kagome frowned. Who'd ever heard of a "cell phone repairman" anyway?

"No Hojo, its fine really, I mean…"

"She _means_ that she doesn't want talk to you anyway. Now scamper away little boy," came a voice from behind him.

Hojo turned around to see that the source of the voice was none other than Kouga Ookami, Kagome's boyfriend and his arch rival. He looked a little uneasy at the sight of the wolf demon.

"Oh, hi Kouga." He smiled warily and scratched the back of his head. "I was just seeing how everyone's summer was, but I'll be off now." He apparently remembered how painful a broken nose was.

After Hojo had made his cowardly departure, Kouga took a seat between Kagome and Rin. Miroku, who had accompanied him, sit on the far end of the table beside Sango.

"Took you awhile," Sango said, raising an eyebrow accusingly at Miroku . "For a minute I thought you two were going to abandon us for the senior cafeteria."

"Oh, the senior cafeteria is wonderful! There are six flat-screen televisions. _Six! _They have a place where you can make your own smoothies too. There were a bunch of computers, but they were all full. Kouga and I were lucky enough to find an empty Lazy Boy in the reading section though. Did you know that it has a _reading _section?" Miroku rambled on until he noticed Sango glaring at him. "…But, you know, none of it was really fun if you guys weren't there. Heh, heh…" Sango smacked him on the back of his head.

Kagome smiled at the couple's familiar bickering before looking at Kouga. "Really, you could have stayed. I don't want to ruin your senior experience."

"My senior experience?" He raised an eyebrow. "Kagome, _you're _the best part of my senior experience. I actually didn't see what was so great about it. I don't even like smoothies. I prefer eating with you any day."

But when they looked toward the front of the lunch room they realized that actually _eating_ wasn't really an option. All four lines were completely full with students standing far from where the line should end. First days were always like this. Kagome's stomach growled.

"It's okay!" Rin pulled five sealed plastic containers from her bulging, pink backpack. "I made lunch for everyone." This was one of those times that made Kagome really grateful that she had a friend as thoughtful as Rin.

After a quick bathroom break Kagome hurried to fourth period. Though there would be no Sango or Rin in this class, there was Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri-three girls who had been very kind and helpful to her when she struggled in her math class the previous year. She took a seat amongst them and pretended to be interested in their conversations about boys and how lame school uniforms were.

"Quiet everyone," came an adult male voice from seemingly nowhere. "Please take a seat young man."

An auburn-haired boy, who had been standing beside a desk and flirting with a girl, looked terribly confused at the bodiless command but hesitantly sat down in the nearest empty seat.

"Good afternoon class. My name is Myoga sensei, and I will be your history teacher for this year. We'll start off with roll call, then you can come get your new text books, and we'll go over the class rules."

A tiny speck hopped from the desk to the top of a nearby podium where the attendance book was.

"A flea demon!" Yuka whispered in excitement. "My older brother told me that a flea demon taught here, but I didn't believe him."

"A flea demon? How cute!" exclaimed Ayumi. "Don't you think so Kagome?"

"Well, it's certainly different. I've never seen one before…"

But whether the instructor was a flea demon or a flying mermaid, history class was still history class-dreadfully long and boring. She had nearly fallen asleep when the high-pitched ring of the bell interrupted the flea demon's please-always-be-prepared-for-my-class lecture. _Great, just two more classes left- Japanese literature, then Astronomy, then home._

Her literature class was on the opposite side of the building, and when the sound of the warning bell echoed throughout the hallway, she was only halfway there.

_Oh no! There's no way I'm going to be late for another class today!_

She raced down three hallways at full speed and entered the room just as the bell rang. The class was nearly full, but Rin had saved a seat beside her and waved Kagome over. She collapsed in the chair, breathing heavily and heart pounding in her chest. _I think I just ran faster than I did at the endurance run last year…_

"Thanks for saving me a seat Rin. My fourth period is really fa-…"

But she didn't get to say what her fourth period really was because, at that moment, the most beautiful man she had ever seen entered the room.

Beautiful… and _scary_.

* * *

**A.N.: **That's it for chapter one! Chapter two is already written and will be posted in a couple of days. It is difficult for me to judge whether or not my work is any good, so feel free to leave some constructive criticism if you think I need it. I know that I can be a little wordy sometimes so don't be afraid to call me out on it! I like this story, and I want my audience to like it too. :)


	3. Jealousy

**A.N.: **So this is how I've officially decided to update—I have chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 completely finished and ready to publish. Chapters 7-13 are more or less written but need to be edited. As soon as I am completely finished with chapter 7, I will publish chapter 3, then when I am finished with chapter 8, I will publish chapter 4, and so on. The goal is to never make my readers wait more than a week for an update. For now, please enjoy the latest installment—chapter 2. :]

Chapter 2

Jealousy

_"It is not love that is blind, but jealousy." ~Lawrence Durrell_

In a matter of five seconds, the entire class was dead silent.

The first thing Kagome noticed was the man's height. He was so tall that he had to stoop down a bit as he walked through the doorframe, but his stature, rather than making him appear lanky or awkward, made him look all the more powerful and daunting. The second thing she noticed was his hair; long, shimmering, silver locks that ended well past his mid-back and flowed behind him as he walked to the board in the front of the classroom. He wore formal, black pants and a corresponding black blazer over an untucked, collared, white shirt. With pale, clawed, slender fingers he took a marker from the metal tray attached to the board and wrote 'Mr. Takahashi' across it in the most elegant cursive that Kagome had ever seen.

_Wait! I-is that the teacher?_

He turned to the class and she almost gasped aloud when she saw his face. Most demons were beautiful, but this was taking it to a whole new level. All of his facial features were perfectly sculpted, making him look unreal, like a glass doll almost. He had a violet crescent moon on his forehead, half-hidden behind his silver bangs, and two red stripes on each cheek. And those eyes! Blazing gold, they held a look of wisdom and indifference. They seemed to peer into the depths of her very soul, making her feel small and exposed.

The clicking sound of his polished black Oxfords echoed throughout the still classroom as he walked to a podium that stood beside his desk. He opened up a red notebook, flipped through a few pages, and stopped. "Aruka, Hana."

The entire class was shocked to suddenly hear this magnificent creature speak, but Hana Aruka was caught off guard more than anyone, considering that the most heavenly voice on the planet had just said her name.

"H-h-here."

Now that the students were aware that roll was being called, they inwardly prepared themselves for when their name came around.

"Higurashi, Kagome."

She was ready for this. "Here."

"Ito, Riku…"

Kagome relaxed a little. At least that's over…

"Ramaru, Shoogo."

"H-here."

"Saji, Hitaru."

"Here!"

"Suromi, Saiko."

"Here."

"Taisho, Rin."

...

Silence.

Kagome blinked and turned to her friend. "Rin?" She was looking down and trembling, not saying a word. She nudged her with her elbow. "Rin, say 'here'," she whispered, but still nothing. She just looked at the floor, remaining silent and shaking all over. He began to mark something in his attendance book, but Kagome mustered up every single ounce of courage within her and interfered.

"M-Mr. Takahashi. R-Rin is here."

The pencil in his fingers stopped moving, and he raised his head from the attendance book to look at Kagome,making her heart skip a beat, then directly at the frightened girl beside her. "Are you Rin Taisho?"

A small yelp escaped Rin's lips but still no answer. The entire class was staring at her now.

"Little girl, can you not speak?" Poor Rin. Kagome herself would be scared if Mr. Takahashi had confronted her in such a way. "…or are you just stupid?"

Kagome stiffened, and a wave of pity for the small, frightened girl could be physically felt throughout the room. Everyone was inwardly urging her to say something, but still she remained silent, trembling more than ever.

"Very well." He picked up his pencil again and pressed it to the page in the attendance book.

Was he really going to count her absent! How mean! Kagome felt helpless. What could she do to stop him? Poor, poor Rin. Thoughts of somehow rescuing her best friend rattled her head until, suddenly, Rin spoke.

"H-h-here," she said in just above a whisper, though it was probably the loudest voice she could muster.

He pulled the pencil away once again and gazed up at her. His expression was still apathetic yet, somehow, slightly amused.

"Tsukami, Saiko."

"Here!"

Kagome sighed in relief and patted Rin's back gently. "It's okay," she whispered. Rin wiped tears away from her eyes.

After the attendance was finally taken, everyone got a text book and Mr. Takahashi instructed what chapter to go to. He didn't go over rules or tell students what they'd need in his class (not that it was necessary, since everyone was too afraid to misbehave or come unprepared), but started right off with teaching. He lectured for thirty minutes or more, and then assigned an essay over the material that would be due tomorrow. _An essay on the first day? _

When he had stopped talking the only noise in the room was the scratching sound of pen on paper. Kagome felt extremely uncomfortable. Even though Mr. Takahashi was sitting at his desk, she felt as if he were standing right behind her, breathing down her neck. She even glanced up to make sure that he was sitting at his desk, but she quickly looked back down to her paper.

_He is staring right at me! _

She counted off ten seconds in her head before she glanced up again. He was still looking in her direction, but upon closer inspection she realized that it wasn't her he was staring at but at Rin, who hadn't taken notice and was working hard on her paper. _Why is he staring at Rin?_

After another tense fifteen minutes the bell finally rang. _Thank goodness that class is over._

The rest of the school day was a breeze. Astronomy was by far her favorite class. The teacher was an eccentric, male ermine-demon who was over-enthusiastic and wore large, terribly smudged glasses that magnified his eyes. She was so interested in the material being taught that before she knew it, the final bell had rang and it was time to go home.

She put her things in her locker, excluding her literature book, and went outside where she was surprised to see her mother's mini van parked near the post where her bicycle was chained. She unchained her bike and rolled it over to the side of the van. The passenger seat's window was rolled down to reveal her mother's smiling face from the driver's side. "Hello Kagome. Have a good first day?"

"Some parts better than others. What are you doing here?"

"I didn't want you riding home all by yourself. Two teenage girls from Tokyo went missing yesterday, and they still haven't found that Osakan woman. Better to be safe than sorry. Souta, will you help your sister put her bike in the back?"

"Sure!" Her ten-year-old brother Souta, always eager to lend a hand, jumped out of the backseat and helped Kagome lift her bike into the back.

"Kagome dear," her mother said as she got into the passenger seat and shut the door.

"Yeah, mom?"

"If you had asked, I would have washed your socks, honey."

Kagome sighed.

The first thing Kagome did when she got home was brush her teeth so hard that her gums bled. Then she took a two-hour-long, steamy, bubbly, lavender-scented bath. _Goodbye grease._ After that she changed into her favorite pink Hamtaro pajamas and finished her literature paper before lying down in her bed and snuggling her head into the pillow. She sighed with content.

_This feels amazing. I think I may just go to sleep early._ She almost felt as comfortable as she did when she woke up that morning. Her room was dark and almost silent, except for the occasional hum of a car passing by. Her warm bed caressed her tired muscles, and her mind slowly began to shut down as her eyelids drooped almost to a close.

"KAGOMEEEE!" her mother yelled from downstairs.

Her eyes flew open.

"KOUGA-KUN'S HEREEEE!"

"Ughhh!" She groaned into her pillow.

Kagome grudgingly walked downstairs and into the kitchen where she saw Kouga giving Souta a noogie and her mother laughing and cheering him on. She cleared her throat to interrupt. He dropped Souta, who had been struggling with his head trapped under Kouga's arm, to the ground and smiled at Kagome. "Oh, hey Kagome."

"Hi, um, what are you doing here?"

Kouga blinked. "Yeah, nice to see you too. Miroku and Sango suggested that we all go to the movies tonight. They're going to pick up Rin, and I told them I would bring you. I mean, if that's okay with you, Ms. Higurashi." Kagome looked to her mother, eyes pleading for a little help.

Her mother smiled sweetly. "Oh, that's fine dear! Just have her back by eleven."

_Thanks mom…_

"The movies? Can't you guys just count me out on this one? I've had a rough day today." The last thing she wanted to do was take her pajamas off.

"You should go Kagome," said her grandfather who was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper with the heading "Two More Missing in Tokyo". "You're only young once."

"It's true, Kagome." Her mother looked away, longingly. "I wish I had been allowed to go to the movies with handsome demon boys when I was younger."

"What!" Her grandpa's head snapped up from his newspaper.

Kagome sighed. There was no way she was going to win this battle.

"What time are we leaving exactly?"

"Eight."

"Eight? It's just six thirty. We have nearly three hours until…"

"I thought that I'd hang out here a while." His lips formed a smirk across his tan face that only she could see, making her blood rush to her cheeks. While Ms. Higurashi and Kagome's grandfather were bickering, Kouga took Kagome's hand and led her upstairs to her bedroom.

As soon as her body was fully in the room, the door was closed and she was forced onto the bed in a rough, open-mouthed kiss in a matter of seconds. When they were alone, Kouga's kisses were rarely soft and often hard to keep up with; sometimes her lips were sore for days.

It's hard to tell how much times passes by when you're making out, but after a while, Kagome knew that her mouth was getting very exhausted trying to keep pace with Kouga's hungry lips. He seemed to sense this and pulled away from her throbbing lips to kiss her along her neck and collar bone. His thick black hair, tied back into a pony tail, was lightly touching her ear, tickling the sensitive area and sending shivers down her spine. By this time she could really start to feel those out-of-control teenage hormones that health teachers always talk about.

"K-Kouga… Kouga… I-I think we should stop."

He let out a small grunt noise but continued. A wondering hand made its way up her shirt and rested on her bare waist.

"Kouga, stop," she commanded with a serious tone.

"Ughhh!" He pulled back and collapsed backward onto the bed. "Why do you always say that?"

Kagome blushed as she ran her fingers through her now-messy hair. "Kouga, we've had this conversation before. I-I'm just not ready."

"It's been nine months Kagome! _Nine months!_" He let out an exasperated breath. "I mean, if we love each other, what does it matter? It's not like I'm going to leave you or anything. I feel like you don't trust me."

"Of course I trust you Kouga. And I love you, it's just that… I don't know, I just don't feel mature enough or something." Kagome sighed. They've had this conversation many times. It wasn't like she was a prude, or a conservative, or opposed to pre-marital sex, but her mother had made her swear on her life that she would wait until she was one hundred percent ready, and that's what she intended to do. She just didn't want to be one of those girls who regretted it. "Besides," she said, glancing toward her alarm clock. "It's almost seven thirty; I need to start getting ready."

A defeated Kouga left her room, mumbling under his breath. Kagome went to her closet, looked through the non-school uniform side of her closet, and finally decided on a green cami, dark-wash jeans, and a pair of flats. She brushed her hair out and lightly applied make-up before she kissed her mother goodbye and walked with Kouga to his car.

"You look nice..." His lips curled into his famous smirk, and he put an arm around her. "…but I like Hamtaro better…"

She rolled her eyes and pulled away to get into the passenger side of the car. Kouga drove an old, beat up Cadillac that he was constantly trying to improve. He could afford a much better car, but he said that it was a "classic". The white paint was chipping off and the leather seats were ripped and torn, yet the rims were rap-star-worthy and the stereo was brand new. The drive to the theater took about twenty minutes faster than it should have considering that Kouga was accustomed to driving thirty miles over the speed limit. When they entered the theater and surveyed the crowd they spotted Rin standing next to a large glass display case that held old movie posters, ticket stubs, and a golden popcorn statue. Rin waved them over excitedly.

"Hey Rin. Where are Sango and Miroku?" Kagome asked.

"Mir-san was shooting zombies in the arcade, but he took too long so Sango went after him."

"Did you already get your tickets?"

"Yes," she replied. "We were just waiting for you and Kouga-san."

"I'm sure we've kept you guys waiting long enough. We'll just go ahead and buy our tickets, and then we can all pick a place to sit."

"I'll take care of that," Kouga said, pulling money from his pocket. "You stay here with Rin. She'll get kidnapped or something."

Kouga went to the ticket booth while Rin and Kagome conversed. Suddenly, Rin's cheeks turned bright pink, and a shy smile formed on her lips. "H-hi Hojo."

Kagome blinked. "Hojo?"

"Hello Rin, Kagome." Kagome cringed at the voice behind her. _What is he doing here?_

She turned around with a forced look of pleasant surprise on her face. "Oh, wow, Hojo... what a surprise seeing you here!"

"Yeah, my dad dropped me and my little sister off here. We're seeing Super Panda, what movie are you guys seeing?"

_Definitely not Super Panda._ "Hmm, I don't know. Whatever Kouga wants to see I suppose." _That should get rid of him…_

Hojo frowned. "He's here?" He looked around to make certain that no one was listening before looking back to Kagome with eyes full of passion. "Kagome, I care about you, and I will no long tolerate you dating that guy!"

"What? Hojo, I don't think you really have a say-…"

"Kagome, he is dangerous! You saw what he did to my nose! Someone that strong with a bad temper isn't a good thing. What if he hurt you? If he ever laid a filthy hand on you, I'd…"

"You'd what?" Kagome didn't even recognize the voice of the words that came out in a snarling growl until Hojo quickly turned around to reveal the enraged face of her boyfriend. Kouga's icy blue eyes were intense with anger, and his lips were curled back to reveal pointed fangs. His claws were at full length, and his hands were shaking with the desire to attack. Kagome was paralyzed with fear. She had never seen him like this. The events that followed happened so quickly that it was difficult for her to recollect.

All she could remember was Kouga leaping toward Hojo in attack, Rin pushing Hojo out of the way, and hearing the loud crash of the display case as they both tumbled into it.

The only sound that her ears could pick up was a dull ringing, laced with the sound of people screaming. "Oh my God!", "Is that little girl dead?", "Someone call an ambulance!" Dizzy and nauseous, she slowly walked over and pushed her way through the people crowded around the fallen display case. The first thing she saw was Kouga who looked utterly horrified. Then she saw why. Her heart fell to her stomach, and the food from lunch threatened to come back up when she saw the unconscious Rin, the blood soaked carpet, and the large, jagged shard of glass that was lodged completely through her leg.

* * *

**A.N.: **I like to re-read my work once I post it to fanfiction, and I have to say-I probably shouldn't. Before publishing I feel like I've written something pretty good, but when I re-read it I get embarrassed. I have no idea what to think of my own writing, so I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope that I have created something worth reading. With that being said, if you do like my story, please review! I'm not trying to beg, but I'm an extremely pathetic human being and something as simple as a review gives me great joy. Reviews also give me a little kick in the ass to get to working on future chapters because I know that people are relying on me to do so. Anyway, thanks for reading and stay tuned for chapter 3! :]


	4. Of Mice and Wolves

Chapter 3

Of Mice and Wolves

"_The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of." ~Blaise Pascal_

"YOU BETTER TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT RIN TAISHO _NOW_!" Sango gripped the edge of the table fixed to the receptionist's window so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"I'm sorry ma'am but I'm under no authority to give any information regarding a patient to non-family members." The woman behind the counter was trying to stay calm and professional, but the panicked look in her eyes gave away her fear. "Now please take a seat before I call security!"

Apparently threatening Sango wasn't the wisest thing to do. She looked like she was getting ready to rip the table off the wall and shove it down the woman's throat, but Miroku bravely entered the situation before anything got out of hand.

"Now Sango dear, it's not going to do Rin any good at all if you get thrown in jail tonight. Let's go sit down and I promise that we won't leave until we hear something," he said in a very calming voice, though keeping a safe distance away from Sango.

For a tense moment, she looked like she was reconsidering the murder of the woman. The wide-eyed receptionist darted her eyes back and forth between the calm, smiling boy and the girl with clenched fists and flared nostrils. Suddenly, Sango stomped away from the window, kicked a chair with such force that it flew across the lobby, and stormed out of the hospital entirely. The waiting room was completely silent at this point except for the cry of a small, frightened child who was clinging to his mother.

"Heh, heh." Miroku turned toward the woman, scratching the back of his head. "You'll have to excuse her, she gets very… angry."

"Well it sure won't do her any good. We simply are not allowed to release information about a patient to just anyone who asks for it! This is a very structured, orderly facility, and we believe in a thing called confidentiality!"

"Oh, that's completely understandable! I mean, you are clearly a woman who is not only passionate about her career but also manages to take good care of herself. Why, it was almost _insane_ of her to expect a woman such as yourself to just completely violate her ethics at the drop of a hat. The world needs more people like you! "

He was laying it on pretty thick.

"Well, I'm glad you understand... And thank you, I do try to have a little _me _time scheduled around work. I go to the gym every week, you know..."

"Oh, that's obvious! I mean, how else could someone have such a slim and well-toned figure as yours?" Miroku leaned across the desk with his famous, lady-killing smirk on his lips. "But those beautiful eyes, you had to have been born with those… natural beauties…"

The woman's cheeks turned red. No female could resist Miroku when he grinned like that; not even an overweight, middle-aged receptionist.

"You see Hanako," he said, glancing ever-so-subtly away from her eyes to her name tag. "I'm in a bit of a predicament and I believe that you're the only one who has the power to help me right now. You see, my friend was severely injured and she's somewhere in this hospital at this very moment. I've been waiting here for almost four hours and still no news. So please, can you tell me what you know about Rin Taisho?"

The woman looked a bit suspicious but was blushing like a school girl nevertheless. "Well, I-I don't know. I really shouldn't…"

Miroku gave her his biggest, most watery and pathetic puppy-dog-eyes. "Please?"

"I'll page the doctor and ask for his permission. That's all I can do for you."

While Miroku flirted with the receptionist and Sango punched a wall outside, Kagome sat quietly in one of the many blue-cushioned chairs that filled the waiting room. She'd barely said anything since the accident took place, aside from answering the questions of a few cops before they took Kouga away in handcuffs. She wasn't concerned with him right now though. He was safe, he was unharmed… he was _alive_. Rin was at best badly injured, that much she was sure of. There was just so much blood. Images of the accident played and replayed in her head like the goriest scene of a horror movie: Kouga knocking into Rin's small body. Both of them tumbling into the display case. The screams of panic. The crowd of people. Kouga's eyes wide in horror. The jagged piece of glass sticking from Rin's thigh. Blood squirting everywhere when the paramedics lifted her onto the stretcher. A woman standing behind her whispering to her husband, "There's no way that girl's gonna make it…"

"Kagome?" Miroku shook her shoulder gently.

Kagome looked up at Miroku, trying to fight back tears. She must have been pretty zoned out. "Yeah? D-did you hear anything?"

"She's in surgery right now to remove the glass, and they have her on blood transfusion so she's probably going to be okay. That's all she would tell me."

A large, shuddering breath escaped her lungs. It felt like she'd been holding her breath for years. "Do you know when we'll get to see her?"

"She wasn't for sure but it'll probably be a few more hours. I called your mom and she said she's on her way. Sango's parents are coming too. Speaking of Sango, I better go find her and tell her what I've found out. Are you okay, Kagome?"

This was one of those rare occasions that Miroku was actually serious. She smiled and nodded. "I'm fine. You should go find your girlfriend before she destroys every car in the parking lot," Kagome added, attempting to lighten the mood. Besides, Rin was going to be okay; there was no point in worrying anymore, right?

Miroku gave Kagome a warm smile before walking away and leaving her alone. Trying not to let her mind wander back to the accident, she picked up a parenting magazine that was lying in the chair beside her and flipped through it. She must have skimmed over every page in that magazine a hundred times or more. Just as she began re-reading an article titled "How I Raised a Daughter with Antlers", she found herself suddenly pulled into a tight, rib-crushing bear hug.

"Kagome, everything's going to be fine honey," Ms. Higurashi said, choking back a sob.

She could feel the moisture of her mother's tears seeping through the shoulder of her blouse and she began to cry herself. Kagome's mother always had this effect on her. If she was upset and her mother walked into the room it was like she was five-years-old again, and she would suddenly start sobbing her heart out.

Ms. Higurashi pulled away to wipe the tears streaming down her daughter's cheeks.

"Rin and Kouga will be fine, Kagome. Everything's going to be okay."

Kagome wiped her runny nose on the back of her hand, then on her jeans. She knew that her face was wrinkled into a wet, snotty, red, crying mess for all the world to see, but she didn't care.

"I don't care about _him _mom. He's the one who hurt Rin! If it wasn't for that stupid, no good wolf, we'd all be at home right now and Rin wouldn't have to get her leg amputated!"

Ms. Higurashi smiled at her daughter's words that were almost undistinguishable through her sobs. "I'm sure that Rin's leg isn't leaving her body anytime soon, dear. Kouga-kun probably feels absolutely horrible about all this. Honey, you must try to understand that it was an accident…"

"I DON'T CARE! IT'S HIS FAULT AND I HATE HIM!"

A fat kid in a Superman T-shirt looked up from his Gameboy to watch the screaming girl.

Ms. Higurashi smiled sadly and nodded, dropping the subject. They sat there for several minutes in silence. Kagome felt bad for yelling at her mother but she knew that she was right.

_All of this is Kouga's fault. So what if he had meant to attack Hojo instead of Rin? Would it have been okay if Hojo was the one in the hospital? Hojo is right—Kouga is dangerous… too dangerous to be in my life anymore._

This thought felt too extreme and final, but before she could think much more on the subject, she felt the warm, comfortable grip of someone else's arms around her body. This hug wasn't as rib-crushing as her mother's, and as she inhaled she recognized the familiar floral aroma of Sango's mother.

"Hello Mrs. Taijaya." She had pretty much gained control of her sobs now except for the occasional sniff.

"Oh, Kagome. You kids have had such a rough night," she said, pulling away from the hug and planting a big, wet kiss on Kagome's forehead before embracing Ms. Higurashi.

While watching the best friends hug she was suddenly jerked from the waiting room chair entirely and into the arms of something large, soft, and gasoline scented. "Kagome, didn't I tell you to gain ten pounds before the next time I saw you?"

She looked up into the pink, smiling face of the six-foot-tall man that held her tightly in his arms. Mr. Taijaya was funny, kind, caring, and always had the ability to lighten any situation.

"Aren't you feeding this child? Look at her, she's skin and bones!"

Mrs. Taijaya laughed. "No, she's certainly not pudgy like our Sango. She was twelve pounds and five ounces when she was born and ninety pounds by the time she reached the first grade!"

Kagome couldn't help but giggle. She remembered all too well what a chunky child Sango had been and how much her family teased her about it.

Kohaku laughed. "Yeah, remember we would have to hide sweets from her?"

He found his head suddenly trapped between Sango's forearm and chest. She rubbed her knuckles roughly against his scalp as he tried to squirm out of her grip. "What were you saying _little brother_?"

"Hey! Stop… quit! I was just kidding! …_Mom!"_

Kohaku was only two years younger than Sango, and they were constantly going at it. Despite this, she adored her little brother. Sango and Kohaku's relationship was unlike that of most siblings. Take Kagome and Souta for example: Kagome, though she loves Souta, would honestly rather spend the day with her friends than quality time with her little brother. Sango on the other hand, would ditch anyone for Kohaku, including Miroku which was often the case.

Miroku smiled and waved from behind them. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Taijaya. Ms. Higurashi."

"Hello Miroku, dear. How's your mother?" asked Mrs. Taijaya.

Everyone took a seat in two rows of chairs that faced each other and began to converse and laugh. An hour and a half passed and there was still no word of Rin, so Miroku went to WacDonalds and picked up something for everyone. Though Mrs. Taijaya's gossip, Mr. Taijaya's jokes, and a vanilla milkshake helped Kagome get her mind off of everything that happened, she began to feel bad for laughing and having fun while Rin was lying in a hospital bed and possibly in pain. She knew that Rin wouldn't want anyone to worry, but it still didn't seem right.

"Party of Rin Taisho?"

Everyone's head snapped toward the door where a short, caramel-haired nurse stood holding a clipboard. She had came out several times in the four hours that they'd been there, but each time just brought disappointment when someone else's name was called, and a patient or a different family walked through the door with her.

Everyone jumped up but the nurse smiled and shook her head sadly. "The Doc says only three at a time."

The Taijaya's and Ms. Higurashi sat back down and nodded for Kagome, Sango, and Miroku to go on. Kagome was suddenly afraid. _What if she's in horrible pain? What if her leg is horribly disfigured? What if I was right and they really did have to amputate it? _The image of Rin holding a bloody stub and howling in pain entered her mind. She looked back at her mother to convey her apprehension, but Ms. Higurashi just gave her a warm, motherly smile and urged her to move forward. She was afraid to see Rin, but she knew that she needed her. She took a deep breath and followed Sango, Miroku, and the nurse through the door.

The last time that Kagome had been to East Tokyo General Hospital was when her father had gotten into the car accident that had eventually killed him. Mr. Higurashi had been in the hospital in critical condition for almost three weeks before he died, and being an adventurous child at the time, Kagome was pretty familiar with the hospital and knew her way around well. She was surprised to see that everything was almost exactly as she remembered it; same white tiles, same beige walls, and the same health posters were still hanging in the exact same place that they were eight years ago. When the nurse said that Rin was in Room #234, she knew that they would have to go up the elevator to the second story and down the hallway to the left. She was right. They followed the nurse into the elevator and down a hallway on the second story where they eventually turned left, into another hallway where the walls were painted with pastel blues, yellows, and pinks. Poorly drawn pictures of cars, various animals, and houses with stick people standing outside were framed and lined the hallway. When Kagome was a child she knew this area as "the pretty place" but now she knew that it was the pediatric unit—the place where the sick and injured children were kept and cared for.

The nurse stopped at the door marked with the number 234 and knocked twice before going in. Kagome's heart pace quickened and she could feel herself start to tremble as she followed closely behind Sango as they entered the room. She noticed that Sango was shaking too.

There were two beds in the room; one closest to the door which was unoccupied and neatly made and another beside the windows that looked out over the courtyard. This bed was hidden by three figures-a tall man in a long white coat, the nurse, and Miroku who had just joined them.

"Miroku? Is that you?"

Kagome's heart skipped a beat when she heard the familiar voice that came from the hospital bed. It was a little groggy and confused but still laced with happiness and surprise.

"Yes Rin, it's me. Sango and Kagome are here too."

"San-chan? Kag-chan? They're here?"

Kagome felt tears well up in her eyes and despite how much she wanted to run over, pull Rin to her as close to her as possible, and cry her heart out, she couldn't seem to get her legs to work. Sango must have sensed Kagome's problem, because she gently took her hand and walked her to the opposite side of the bed.

"Yeah Rin, see? Kagome and I are here," Sango said, smiling.

Kagome could just smile, nod, and blink away the tears that were starting to distort her vision.

Rin was lying in the hospital bed and looking up at her friends with half-lidded, sleepy eyes and a kind smile. Her light brown hair fell in waves down her shoulders and glittered from the dim light of a lamp that sat on the bedside table. Her face looked soft and beautiful, despite the few minor cuts and scrapes across her cheeks and forehead. Her thin arms lay outside of the white, hospital blanket that covered the rest of her body, revealing a couple more cuts, one of which had required stitches. An I.V. was stuck and taped just below the crease of her elbow and hooked to a clear sac of what appeared to be blood hanging from the I.V. pole. Though her legs were hidden underneath the blanket, she could see the imprint of them. Both were whole, complete, and still attached to her body. Kagome felt relief wash over her.

_Rin is going to be okay._

Staring at her small, hospitalized friend, Kagome suddenly remembered something that she had learned in her Astronomy class earlier that day. The Earth and all that was in it was made from materials left over from the Big Bang, meaning that all of the iron, calcium, and carbon in human and and demon bodies alike had originated from the interiors of collapsing stars. After her Astronomy teacher had excitedly explained this to the class, for a silly moment Kagome wondered if it were possible that some people were made of more starstuff than others. At the time, she had compared Mrs. Akito and Ms. Natsuya, deciding that the reason her Algebra teacher was so evil was because she had a star deficiency. Now, looking at Rin, she was confident that her friend was made of more starstuff than anyone or anything else in the entire planet. Rin Taisho was the closest thing that there was to a star.

"How's your leg feeling?" Sango asked, interrupting Kagome's thoughts.

"Fine, I think. I mean I can't feel anything at all." Rin chuckled lightly and looked toward the doctor who was talking to the nurse who had brought them in. "Thank you both so much for taking care of me."

The doctor and nurse both looked at her then at each other with one of those, "Aww, isn't she cute?" smiles that parents often give one another when their young child says or does something kind.

"Oh, it's no problem at all sweety." The nurse walked over to Rin's side and stroked her hair back from her face. "Are you thirsty or hungry? Do you want the television turned on?"

Rin smiled and her cheeks turned red with the familiar blush that always forms when someone gives her special attention.

"My throats a little dry, but you don't have to trouble yourself. I can go to the water fountain when my leg gets a little better."

The doctor chuckled heartily. "I suppose you don't plan on drinking anything for about a week then, Miss Rin?" He smiled and shook his head at the nurse.

She laughed. "I'll get you a glass of water, dear. 'Not wanting me to go to the trouble'… Oh, aren't you the sweetest thing."

The nurse patted Rin's uninjured leg lightly and handed the doctor a clipboard before leaving the room. The doctor pulled a black pen from his breast pocket and scribbled something on the clipboard.

"Rin, my name is Dr. Mazaki and I'll be checking up on you from time to time during your stay at the hospital. I just need to ask you a few quick questions and then I'll leave you to your friends."

He proceeded to ask every question in the five page questionnaire about past medical problems, current medications, allergies, and sexual activity leaving an even heavier blush on Rin's cheeks.

"Okay." He scribbled a last note on the paper, placed the cap back onto the pen, and sighed. "Now, do you have any questions for me, Miss Rin?"

"Yes. Will I be able to go back to school tomorrow?"

Rin was a weird kid. She had always been much more excited about school than a normal fifteen-year-old girl should be. It was extremely rare for her to miss, even when she broke something or had a stomach virus.

"Well, not tomorrow, Rin. I would say that you'll be out for at least a week and a half."

She frowned a bit, making the doctor laugh.

"I'm sure your friends here will be certain to bring you your homework. Any more questions, dear?"

"Yes. Is Hojo okay?"

Dr. Mazaki looked toward Kagome, Sango, and Miroku, shaking his head and smiling as if he was saying "_Isn't she so cute and nice?"_

"The young man you so heroically jumped in front of? Yes, he is fine. He walked away from the scene completely uninjured, thanks to you. I'm sure he'll come visit you first thing in the morning." Rin blushed again and Kagome saw Sango roll her eyes.

The doctor placed his pen back into his breast pocket and straightened the papers on the clipboard. "Now, unless you have any more questions I'll be off, Miss Rin."

"Yes, but just one more." She smiled, her eyes half-lidded. She was still very drowsy. "Where is Kouga-san?"

Kagome felt every muscle in her body stiffen.

"The wolf demon who attacked you? You won't have to worry about him. He's all locked up and I'm sure he'll be spending quite a while behind bars."

"What?" Rin's eyes widened despite the drugs that still wanted to make them droopy. She looked toward her friends with a confused expression on her face. "In jail?"

"Well…" Miroku seemed to be the only one out of the three who could find his voice. "He did hurt you pretty bad, Rin. Plus he broke that display case which is considered vandalism, I think. So yes, the police did arrest him and put him in jail for a little while. "

Rin blinked several times, her eyebrows furrowed and panic across her once drowsy countenance. "For a little while? How long?"

"Maybe a year, if you press charges," Dr. Mazaki answered for Miroku.

Rin looked to Dr. Mazaki, back to her friends, and to the doctor again. "But I don't want to press charges! Kouga's my friend… and Kagome's boyfriend!"

Dr. Mazaki raised his black, bushy brows in surprise. "You don't want to press charges?" He laughed. "Miss Taisho, I believe that you're still a bit under the influence of the anesthetic. We may actually want to redo this questionnaire later." He flipped through the papers a bit and chuckled, looking toward Sango, Miroku, and Kagome for reassurance that their friend didn't know what she was talking about. They couldn't reassure him.

"No!" Rin rose up quickly, jerking the I.V. pole toward her and making Dr. Mazaki jump back in surprise. "I don't want to press charges! I want Kouga out of jail right NOW!"

Everyone was shocked. They had never heard Rin _yell_ before.

She looked directly at Kagome, eyes full of tears and face wrinkled into a sob. "I'm so sorry, Kagome. I really didn't mean to send Kouga-san to jail, I promise."

At first all Kagome could do was stare and try to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. "N-no Rin. He hurt you… it's okay… I-I want him to be in jail. He deserves anything he gets. "

"No he doesn't!" Her once groggy voice was now clear and full of passion. "I don't want to press charges!" She looked away from Kagome and back to Dr. Mazaki. "I DON'T WANT TO PRESS CHARGES!"

The doctor looked taken aback at the small screaming girl who had once been so sweet and adorable. "W-well, if you really don't want to press charges your foster parents will have to take that up with the police."

"Where are they? Where are my foster parents?"

"They're at home. They said that as long as you were okay that they would wait until morning to see you."

"Tell them to come now! Tell them that I need them right now!" Rin looked at the doctor with desperate, pleading eyes. "Please…"Her face was now red and wet with tears.

He sighed and shook his head in defeat. "There's a phone in your room. You can call them if you want, though I would still recommend rethinking all of this."

"Thank you." Ignoring the doctor's advice, she spotted the phone on the bedside table, grabbed it, and quickly dialed the number to Cherry Blossom Children's home.

Dr. Mazaki shook his head sadly at Rin and waved an awkward goodbye to everyone else in the room. Kagome, however, hadn't noticed. She was too busy feeling disgusted with herself. The majority of her wanted to rip the phone cord out of the wall and tell Rin to let Kouga rot in prison, while another part of her, the part that she was disgusted with, secretly hoped that Rin would be able to convince her foster parents otherwise.

The following week of school was hell. Her Algebra sensei Ms. Natsuya, who by now she was almost certain was the antichrist, had called on her for every impossible equation in the book and given her three extra pages of homework each night because _"she was in desperate need of the practice". _Not only that, but Ayame would sneer at her from across the class room and make little comments to her friends, just loud enough for Kagome to hear, about how she had _"Sent her darling to jail" _and how none of it would have happened if she hadn't cheated on him with Hojo.

Third period P.E. wasn't much fun either. With Rin gone she was partnered to play volleyball with demon girls that were a thousand times more athletic than her, and she could finally empathize with Rin. She now knew how it felt to get hit in the face with a volleyball going at forty kilometers an hour.

Despite her attempts to convince them otherwise, Rin's parents had decided to press charges against Kouga, so he was still in jail. This was great actually, but with Rin still out of school that left Sango, Miroku, and herself to eat lunch together. Under different circumstances this wouldn't have been a problem but Sango, being furious with Kouga, was afraid that she would say something that may offend his girlfriend. Kagome, who didn't even consider Kouga to be her boyfriend anymore, would still much rather avoid a conversation involving him altogether. The best friends barely spoke to each other which created an awkwardness at the lunch table that Miroku tried, but failed, to vanquish with casual conversation that no one joined.

However, the gods were occasionally in her favor. After two days in the hospital, Rin had finally returned home.

"Thank you Kagome!" Rin took the small pile of books from Kagome's hands and sat them in an unoccupied place on her bedside table.

"No problem. Oh, and we also have a six thousand word essay on _The Tale of the Heike_"

Kagome, who felt partly responsible for Rin's injury, considered it a personal mission to not only bring Rin her homework everyday but also to help her with it. For the past week she had spent half of her lunch period running about to all of Rin's classes and asking for her assignments. Despite how much she loathed her literature class, she was extremely grateful that she was in the same fifth period with Rin so that she knew what the homework was, and didn't have to actually ask the tremendously feared Mr. Takahashi for it.

"Six thousand words?" Rin frowned. "I haven't even finished the book yet. "

"Don't worry about it. I've already finished mine and I'm sure I can do yours in twenty minutes." She was lying, but she owed Rin the world right now.

"Aww, Kagome." She smiled sweetly and pulled away from the pink, Pikachu comforter that covered her to wrap her arms around Kagome's waist. "Don't be silly. I won't have you doing any of my homework."

Kagome sighed in defeat and ran her fingers through her friend's messy, brown hair.

"I have wonderful news Kag-chan," Rin said after a moment, her face in Kagome's stomach and voice a bit muffled.

"What? Ms. Natsuya is quitting? Buyo lost ten pounds?"

She giggled and rolled to her back, her head now lying in Kagome's lap. "Nope, even better! I finally convinced my parents to drop all the charges on Kouga! "

Kagome blinked. "What?"

"Yeah!" She rose up and faced Kagome, bright-eyed and grinning with excitement. "I told them I wouldn't eat anymore unless they did, and they dropped all of the charges. Kouga got out today! I wanted it to be a surprise, but I just couldn't hold it in any longer."

Kagome stared at her, wide eyed.

"Aren't you happy?" Rin asked, frowning.

"Yeah… "Kagome forced a smile. "Thrilled."

Never mind, the gods hated her guts.

The next day she was nervous. Kouga should be back at school, but she had yet to see him. This was a good thing. She didn't _want _to see him. Nevertheless, her heart was pounding out of her chest as she snuck about the sophomore hallway like a secret agent; hiding her face behind her books and looking over her shoulder as she made her way to her locker.

_What will Kouga do if he sees me? What if he walks right up like nothing ever happened? I would punch him in the face! Or what if he runs over with eyes full of tears, falls to his knees, and begs for forgiveness? Well, I would… punch him in the face!_

"Kagome?"

Kagome jumped back and yelped aloud when she heard the voice that she had dreaded hearing. She looked up into the face of her former boyfriend. There was a small smile across his tan face, but his icy, blue eyes held enough sadness to make her heart wrench.

"Hey," he said, his voice laced with the same sorrow that was shown in his eyes.

She didn't punch him in the face. She didn't even want to punch him in the face. In fact, turning around and walking away from him was all she could do to keep from falling into his arms.

Kouga had apparently gotten the message. In the following week he hadn't called, texted, or tried to contact her in anyway. She hadn't even seen him since their last encounter by her locker. For a guilty moment she even thought that he may have transferred to a different school, but Miroku mentioned that he was eating all by himself in the senior cafeteria.

Rin, who was extremely happy to be able to return to school, wasn't so happy when she found out about Kagome and Kouga.

"Kagome, please don't break up with Kouga-san because of me!"

Kagome sipped on her juice box calmly. Miroku sat down with his tray beside Sango who was flipping through the latest issue of the _Japanese Economic Review_. "None of this is because of you, Rin. We just weren't working out." She really didn't want to talk about this.

"But you and Kouga were getting along so well! What happ- "

"Sooooooo," Miroku interrupted, coming to Kagome's rescue and changing the subject. "Did anyone watch the news this morning? Over ninety people have gone missing in Japan in the past week, at least forty being from Tokyo."

Sango blinked and looked up from her magazine. "Forty? Anyone who goes here?"

"Yeah, I can't believe you haven't heard yet. Some kid named Shoogo Ramaru. I don't know him though. "

Rin gasped and clasped her hand to her mouth. "I know him! Remember, Kagome? He was in our fifth period!"

Kagome did remember him. There was nothing really special about him. He was a lanky, human kid with a bad haircut and glasses.

"What people can't find out is…" Miroku began, taking a large bite of a roll. "…how the kidnapper is taking someone from Tokyo one day and Kochi the next."

"So there has to be more than one person doing it?" Sango asked, now fully interested.

"Exactly. That, or it's someone very powerful."

"Is there a link between the people that go missing? Like something that they all have in common?" Kagome asked. She had heard once about a serial killer whose victims all had red hair.

"Well, at first they couldn't figure it out." Miroku took a drink of milk to wash down the remainder of the roll. "The ages of the people kidnapped ranged anywhere from seven to fifty. Both genders had been reported missing too. They did manage to find one link though... Every single one of them was _human_."

Kagome heard Rin gulp. Sango scoffed.

"Well, I suppose if I was going to kidnap someone it would be much easier to kidnap a human than a demon," she said very matter-of-factly, taking a bite from a potato chip. "It doesn't necessarily _mean _anything."

"Maybe not." Miroku shrugged. "Or maybe it does. For all we know it's some gang of enraged, speciesist demons who murder any human they can get their hands on."

Rin whimpered.

"Oh stop it Miroku, you're scaring Rin." Sango focused her attention back on her magazine. "Besides, you're so full of crap…"

Miroku raised his eyebrows in faux surprise. "Full of crap, am I?" He leaned toward Sango and put his arm around her shoulders. She rolled her eyes and continued reading. "I told you about the people missing in _Japan_, but I haven't even mentioned the four hundred disappearances in Europe, the one hundred and fifty humans suddenly missing in the US, and oh, some Chinese rock star who went out for a walk a few days ago and never came back."

Sango blinked several times. "Are you serious?"

"One hundred percent." Miroku leaned back in his chair with a smug grin on his face. "Creepy, huh?"

Sango glared. "No, it's very serious and shouldn't be made into a scary story. I don't want you, you, and especially you to go anywhere by yourselves, understand?" She looked to Miroku, Kagome, and Rin.

Miroku sighed while Kagome and Rin nodded.

_She won't have to worry about that…_

The bell for fourth period echoed throughout the lunch room, startling the already frightened Rin. As Kagome left the lunchroom she could hear Sango bickering at Miroku for scaring her.

After getting her history and literature book from her locker she hurried to fourth period. The topic of missing humans had actually helped move her thoughts away from Kouga, but her mind didn't wander long. As she approached her classroom she saw him. He was standing by the door—waiting.

_Eeek! What do I do, what do I do?_

She stopped in her tracks. She would need to turn around and go the opposite direction. Maybe she could hide out by the stairwell until he left. That would make her a little late for class, but…

"Kagome?"

_Darn, too late..._

He ran over, stopping directly in front of her. This was the first time she had seen him in over a week. His eyes were dark and sunken in, his tan complexion had lightened considerably and his high cheek bones were protruding more than usual. He looked as if he hadn't slept or eaten in days. She averted her gaze and tried to walk pass him.

"Kagome, please. I need to talk to you," he said desperately, reaching out to grab her upper arm before she could escape.

She should have pulled away. She should have refused, but she couldn't. The person she was in love with was standing before her an emotional and physical train wreck. His eyes were pleading for her to talk to him.

"What do you want? I'm going to be late for class."

"I wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I'm just sorry-for everything. I don't know what to do, Kagome. I don't want to lose you, and I know I deserve all this, but I really didn't mean for Rin to get hurt or anything."

This was unlike Kouga. In past arguments, he had always too prideful to apologize. This often frustrated Kagome, but she knew that it was just the way Kouga was.

"Maybe not, but you did mean for Hojo to get hurt!" She was yelling at him in a whisper form. She didn't want to make the situation any worse by attracting an audience.

"I'm sorry! I can't help it…" He looked down at his feet like a child who was getting chastised for doing something wrong. "…I get jealous."

Kagome clenched the hand that wasn't holding her books into a fist. "Over Hojo? You _know_ that I don't like Hojo, but no, you have to go and get Rin almost killed."

"I said I was sorry! What else do you want me to do?" He transformed from a little boy being punished to a teenager yelling at his mom. His brows were furrowed with anger and the corners of his mouth had drooped to a frown.

"I don't know, Kouga. Maybe you should be apologizing to Rin and not me?"

The final bell rang for fourth period. She was officially late.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I don't want to be any tardier than I already am."

Kagome walked toward the door of the classroom but Kouga stood in front of her, blocking her path.

"Don't you think I've done that, Kagome?"

She glared up at Kouga with intense, fiery anger in her eyes. "'I'm_ sorry'_ is just not going to cut it, considering that you almost chopped her leg off. You better do something pretty darn grand if you ever want me to even _speak _to you again!"

She stormed past him and into the classroom.

She later relayed the entire incident to Sango, Rin, Miroku, her mother, and anyone else who would listen. That night she wrote a three page journal entry about how much she despised Kouga Ookami, and hung the teddy bear he had gotten her for Valentine's Day by a noose on her ceiling fan. The following day at lunch, much to her friends' dismay, she was still fuming.

"Can you believe him? _'I'm sorry. What else do you want me to do?'_ Ugh, the nerve of him!"

"Yeah, damn him for apologizing!" Miroku said, a sarcastic expression of outrage on his face.

Sango death glared at him and looked back to Kagome. "Ignore Miroku." She took a long sip of her iced tea. "But seriously Kagome, if you hate him so much just forget about him. I mean, there's like fifty other wolf demons in this school. Pick one."

"I really think you should have forgiven him," Rin added.

"Wow." Kagome frowned. "Isn't anyone on my side?"

But she never got to figure out if anyone was on her side, because at that moment a six-foot-tall, gray, googly-eyed mouse had walked up to their table.

Kagome blinked, Sango furrowed her brow, and Miroku looked completely flabbergasted as the over-sized mouse leaned down in front of a shocked Rin.

"Hello Miss!" came a familiar voice from the inside of the costume. "What's your name?"

Rin squealed in delight and covered her mouth with her hands. "Rin!"

Kagome looked around to see if anyone else was weirded out by this. The entire cafeteria was now watching, all of them looking just as clueless as she was.

"Rin, I heard that you like animals!" said the high pitched, cartoon-like, and almost recognizable voice.

"Yeah, I like animals," she replied shyly, cheeks red with a blush and hands still covering her mouth. She looked around at her friends to see if they knew what was going on. They didn't.

"Do you have any pets?"

"N-no, we're not allowed to have cats or dogs at the children's home. Some kids are allergic…" Rin still had a huge smile on her face. She didn't know why a six-foot-tall mouse was talking to her, but she was glad it was.

"Well, are you allowed to have a mouse?"

She giggled. "Not a mouse as big as you!"

"What about a smaller one?" He pulled a pink cage from behind his back that held a normal-sized, black and white lab rat. It sniffed amongst the hay that lined the bottom of the cage, unaware of the strange situation it was in.

Rin squealed with delight. "Really?"

"Yep." The larger mouse handed the cage off to the excited girl in front of him. "This is your mouse!"

"Awwwwww! Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Mouse!" Rin opened up the top of the cage and gently scooped the mouse up in her hand. "Hi there…" she greeted her new friend with a soft, sing-song voice.

The larger mouse looked up to see that the entire cafeteria was watching him.

"Urrr…well… that'll be all. Mr. Mouse has to go now." He took Kagome's hand, to her surprise, and backed awkwardly out of the cafeteria.

"What? Wait, who are you?" Kagome attempted to pull away from the mouse's grip but he didn't let go until they were out of the lunchroom and in the solitude of a deserted hallway. For a ridiculous moment she toyed with the notion that this goofy mouse character may be the human-napper.

"Who do you think?" he asked in his normal, now fully recognizable voice. The head of the costume was removed to reveal the face of a frowning Kouga. "_Now _are you still mad at me?"

Kagome stared blankly at him a moment before erupting into laughter.

"Y- you-haha- did that, f-for Rin-haha?" She could barely get her words out through her laughter. "Y-you-haha- dressed up-haha- l-like a MOUSE!"

"Yes, I did." He sighed. "Now please, am I forgiven?"

She looked up at him and couldn't help but smile. It was Kouga—the ever so tough and prideful pure-blooded wolf demon—unhappily standing before her as a gray, fluffy, googly-eyed mouse. It really made it hard for her to stick to her plan of hating him forever.

"Welll… I don't knowww." She bit her lip to look like she was thinking.

"Kagome, there are a few trophy cases in this school that I'm not afraid to throw you into…"

She laughed and collapsed into Kouga's open arms, finally accepting what she had been denying for the past two weeks—that there was no other place in the world that she would rather be.

* * *

**A.N.: ** Just in case you're getting worried, I promise that this is going to be an InuyashaXKagome fic.


	5. The Assembly

**A.N.: **I forgot to mention this last time, but I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, alerted, and etc. I just thought that I would let you know that your feedback never goes unappreciated.

Chapter 4

The Assembly

_The devil takes a hand in what is done in haste. ~Turkish Proverb_

"I don't think I should go."

A visually disgruntled Rin sat cross-legged on the burgundy carpet of Sango's bedroom floor. Sango stood on her knees behind her, brushing back her damp, brown locks.

"You're going, Rin. Get over it," Sango replied, forcing the hair brush through a mess of tangles that had almost dried, making Rin wince in pain.

"_Ow!"_

Kagome sat on the bed with her back against the cool, mahogany headboard, absentmindedly stroking the fur of Sango's cat, Kirara; a small, white, snoring ball of fluff at her side. She thought that some time with the girls would help to clear her head, but Sango and Rin had done nothing but bicker all night. The fall dance was coming up, and Rin didn't want to go, often bringing up the terms 'fifth wheel' and 'burden'. Sango wasn't going to stand for this, and under different circumstances Kagome would have been right by her side, backing her up and telling Rin to get over it, but tonight Kagome had other things on her mind. Their arguing just became another background noise along with the sound of the television in the living room and a dog barking somewhere outside.

"I just don't want to be a-" Rin began.

"'Fifth wheel', I know," Sango interrupted. "How many times to I have to tell you to quit being so goddamn considerate, Rin? Sometimes it's almost disgusting."

Rin's naturally pouty lips pouted even further.

"But…"

"If you don't want to be a _fifth wheel_ or whatever, just ask someone to go with you. Isn't that right, Kagome?...

Kagome?"

Kagome's head snapped up at the mention of her name to see her friends staring at her expectantly. "Um… yes?" she replied, hoping her response was an appropriate one.

"Kagome, do you even know what we're talking about?" Sango asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend's answer that had sounded more like a question. Rin blinked, also puzzled by her Kagome's odd behavior.

_Oh no... _Sango and Rin knew that something was up, and she didn't know what to say to throw them off. Lying was the first idea that popped into her head, but she was an awful liar, and Sango could spot a Kagome-lie from a kilometer away. Her friends continued to stare at her as she considered what action to take.

"Not really," she finally admitted, trying to keep her cool. "I guess I was kind of zoned out."

That wasn't exactly a lie—she _was_ zoned out. But she could have been zoned out over something simple; she could have been thinking about her Astronomy homework or what color to paint her toe nails or something, right?

Sango and Rin looked to each other. They knew Kagome all too well, and they knew that she wasn't zoned out because of toe nail polish, or homework, or anything of that manner. They sensed something deeper than that.

"What's wrong, Kagome?" Sango and Rin both asked in unison.

_Darn!_ She knew where this was heading. Though her friends appeared calm on the surface, Kagome knew that deep down they were leeches—ruthless, starving leeches, and the information she kept from them was the blood that they needed to survive. They weren't going to stop until they had sucked every ounce of it from her brain.

"Nothing; I just have something on my mind is all," she replied, desperately hoping they would let it go at that. What was she thinking; they would never let it go at that.

Sango raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "What's on your mind?"

"It's kind of… embarrassing," she unwillingly answered.

_There's no hope for me now. If I have this much trouble talking about it, maybe I shouldn't even be thinking about it anyway. _

But Kagome knew she couldn't stop thinking about it even if she tried. She had been thinking and worrying and fretting for almost two weeks; ever since she and Kouga had made up.

"Kagome, you don't have to be embarrassed around us," the biggest leech said, leaving her place on the floor and taking a seat on the bed beside her. "We're your best friends. Don't be afraid to talk to us about something if it's bothering you."

"Yeah, Kagome," the smaller leech agreed, slowly getting up, using the dresser as support, and limping over to join them on the bed. "It's just us."

Kagome looked into the two sets of eyes in front of her, both shimmering with a look of genuine concern. She had been given this look by one or both of them so many times—when her father died, when her junior high crush moved away, when she almost hadn't passed her Algebra I class last year... These weren't leeches-these were her best friends; her sisters, and they were here to help her just as they always had been. Feeling reassured, she took a deep breath in preparation to spill her guts. _Here goes…_

"I think I'm ready to have sex with Kouga."

Sango's eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs, and Rin's face fell five inches below its natural position.

"_Seriously_?" Sango asked, regaining her composure after the initial shock.

Rin's face was such a deep shade of red that it may have been more accurate to say it was purple. Apparently she hadn't regained _her _composure.

"Yes…" Kagome reluctantly replied. "Do you think it's still too soon?"

"Well, it's almost been a year," said Sango. "If you love each other and trust him and everything, then no; I don't think it's too soon at all. Miroku could barely wait two weeks." She rolled her eyes. "You know how Miroku is though."

Rin's eyes, already inhumanly large at this point, became even wider if possible. "You and Mir-san have done _THAT_, Sango?" Sango may as well have said that she and Miroku had set fire to a neonatal intensive care unit.

Sango blinked. "You didn't know?"

Rin yelped an 'oh my goodness' so high-pitched that it could have only been the result of helium inhalation and buried her face into her knees. Kagome frowned. What was she thinking asking Rin advice about sex? The poor girl couldn't see a pair of men's undergarments without blushing or averting her eyes.

Sango motor-boated a sigh and rolled her eyes at Rin's reaction. "Rin, if you don't think you can handle this conversation and help Kagome, then feel free to leave the room."

"_Sango_!" Kagome scolded.

However, this was just what Sango needed to say. Rin lifted her head from her knees looking both embarrassed and ashamed of herself for overreacting. "No, it's okay Kagome," Rin lied. "I'm okay."

Kagome shot a mean look toward Sango, who looked pleased with the result of her words, and turned to Rin, smiling sweetly. "No, Rin. It's fine. I know how uncomfortable it is for you to talk about stuff like this." Sango scoffed.

"It's okay Kagome. I really don't mind, I swear! …So you want to have, um… relations with Kouga-san?" she began awkwardly, trying, but failing, to prove that she was comfortable with the topic of conversation at hand.

Whatever guilt Kagome had previously felt for making Rin feel discomfited was replaced with the amusement she felt when hearing her talk about 'relations'. She smiled a bit to herself, trying to hold back a giggle. Sango wasn't so courteous; she, unlike Kagome, didn't hesitate to express how humorous she found the situation.

"'_Relations'?_" She burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, falling back onto the bed and holding her sides.

Rin puffed out her cheeks and furrowed her brow to convey her unappreciation of Sango's teasing.

"_You know what I mean!"_

Sango continued to roar with laughter for several minutes. When she finally rose and wiped the tears away from the corners of her eyes, both of her friends were glaring at her.

"Right, right-back to your dilemma, Kagome."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Kagome mumbled bitterly.

Sango made a face at her before continuing. "So what brought this sudden burst of horniness on, anyway? I mean a couple weeks ago you weren't willing to go past first base, and now you're ready to take it all the way home?"

Rin frowned, bemused. "Why are we talking about baseball? And Kagome doesn't have a horn…"

After another bout of hysterical laughter from Sango, Kagome answered her question before she could have the pleasure of explaining 'horns' or 'bases' to Rin.

"Like Rin said, _I don't have a horn_… I just, I don't know… love him… I guess? I mean, I _do _love him, of course… it's just, everything's been really great between us lately…" Kagome answered, wondering if her explanation had made sense at all.

"So the guy dresses up like a rat, and now you're ready to jump on him?" Sango asked with a raised eyebrow.

"_No_!" Kagome blushed a bit. "I mean, it was a really nice of him to do that for Rin… and completely out of character for him, too. You don't understand; I've never seen him go out of his comfort zone like that. He wouldn't even be the clown for his younger cousin's birthday party, remember? I don't know…" She groaned. It was even harder for her to talk about this than she thought it would be. "…I just want to do this for him, you know?"

She couldn't make Sango and Rin understand how odd it really was to see Kouga dressed up as a mouse and at school at that. Kagome knew that he hadn't just done it so that Rin would forgive him (she already had after all) but also to redeem himself in her eyes. How much more love and trust could she ask from him for before she took their relationship to the next level?

"Don't do it if it's just for him, Kagome," said Rin disapprovingly.

"Rin's right for once," Sango added, receiving a glare from Rin. "Don't do anything unless _you_ want to."

"I do want to," Kagome retorted, inwardly trying to convince herself as well as the others. "I just don't know how to…" she added in an embarrassed mutter.

"I think I'll leave the room now," Rin squeaked, becoming flustered again.

Sango shook her head at the hopeless girl in front of her and didn't pay any mind to Rin whatsoever. "Kagome, don't worry-It'll come natural. Besides, he'll more than likely know what he's doing. He's done it with Ayame plenty of times, I'm sure."

Kagome began to respond but stopped and blinked.

Her face became so rigid and hot that it was a wonder it didn't crack under such immense heat and pressure. She clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and her fingernails sunk into her palms. Everything was red, and all she could hear was a dull ringing sound. She imagined herself killing and torturing things. So many mean, horrible words wanted to come out of her mouth, but all she could manage was "_NEVER MIND!_ I'm _NEVER, EVER, EVER_ going to do _ANYTHING _with him _EVER_!"

"_Sango_!" Rin scolded. "Kagome, don't listen to her!"

"WELL, IT'S TRUE!" Kagome got to her feet and paced back and forth across the room in rage. "He _HAS _slept with Ayame. Why on earth hadn't I realized that sooner? I'm so STUPID for even CONSIDERING…"

"KAGOME!" Sango shouted, cutting Kagome's rant short. "Calm down!"

"CALM!" she snapped. "How in the world am I supposed to be _calm?_"

Sango heaved a sigh of frustration. "That was in _the past_, Kagome. He hates Ayame just as much as you do now. He loves _you_, not her. Don't get mad at him for something that he did when he didn't even know you existed."

"You don't have to yell either," Rin added gingerly.

Kagome viciously racked her brain, but she couldn't find an argument to refute Sango's statement anywhere. Her friends were right—despite how utterly repulsive it was, it wouldn't be fair to be angry with Kouga for sleeping with Ayame when he didn't even know her.

_Besides, he broke up with her for me, right? That should prove _something_._

"Okay, okay—you guys are right, let's just not talk about Ayame anymore." She plopped back down onto the bed in defeat, still a bit shaken from being so angry. "There's still one more problem: When am I going to have the opportunity to actually _do_ this?"

"Hmm..." Sango bit her bottom lip and looked toward the ceiling in thought. "It would be kind of risky doing it at your house; Souta or somebody could walk in…" Kagome cringed at the thought. "Let's seee… Wait!" Sango held up her index finger in a 'eureka' moment. "Won't Ms. Ookami be away on that business trip all next week?"

"Yes…"

"And the fall dance is on Saturday! _Perfect_! Kagome, you can go home with Kouga after the dance, and you two will have the whole place to yourselves! And doesn't he have a fireplace and a hot tub? It would be _awesome_!"

"That sounds great and all Sango, but I don't think my mother will be too happy about me spending the night with Kouga."

"That's why you're not going to tell her," she said very matter-of-factly. "Just say that you're spending the night with me or something."

"She can't lie to her mother!" Rin exclaimed, appalled.

Sango shrugged. "She can if she wants to have sex with Kouga."

Kagome told her mother everything, and in turn she trusted Kagome entirely. She didn't like the idea of lying to her mom any more than Rin, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to do it just this once.

"I'll figure something out" was her only response.

Though the advice of her friends had been helpful, the following morning she was glad to go home so that she would have alone time to think it all over, but as soon as she stepped through the front door her mother and grandfather bombarded her.

"_KAGOME!_ You didn't _walk home_, did you?" her mother asked, grabbing her daughter's shoulders with a wild expression of panic on her face.

"N-no," she replied, bewildered. "Mom, Sango's house is fifteen kilometers away…"

"Well, don't you be walking out anywhere by yourself, you here?" her grandfather warned, flailing his arms about in passion.

"Why? What's going on?" she asked, still perplexed.

"A lot of humans went missing last night," Souta said, much more calmly than the others, from where he stood against the door frame of the entrance to the kitchen. "Six of them were kids from your school."

"_What?_ Oh my goodness! Who?"

As her mother recited the seven names of the missing teenagers, Kagome listened intently, her heart pounding in her chest, hoping that none of the names belonged to anyone that she knew. They didn't, but she was far from relieved. Six kids that had went to the same school as her had vanished, seven counting Shoogo Ramaru who had went missing a couple weeks previously and still hadn't been found.

The following day at school the latest disappearances were all that anyone could talk about. As she made her way to her locker that morning, the majority of the students that she passed were huddled in groups chattering about it in fearful excitement. There were a few groups of people, however, who stood together in silence… the friends of the missing students.

In her first period biology class, after everyone had been seated, Mrs. Akito closed the door with a serious expression that had never before graced her usually joyful countenance. As she returned to the center of the room, the only sound that could be heard was the click-clack of her heels as they hit the tile floor.

"I'm sure that everyone has already heard about the forty-three humans who were reported missing last night in Tokyo…" she began, leaning forward against the podium in front of her. "…and I'm sure you already know that six were children who attended East Tokyo High," she continued.

"I-I look at all of my students as if they were my children…" Her voice broke with a sob, and she paused momentarily to get herself together. "…and it makes me so angry that whoever's doing this is getting away with it." She clenched her left fist, closed her eyes, and exhaled to control her emotions. "I'm declaring a personal war on these human snatchers, and it won't be over until every one of them is behind bars."

She left the podium and went to her desk where she picked up a thick stack of papers.

"These are fliers with photographs of the missing students on them," she explained as she passed them out amongst the class. "And I want each and every one of you to post at least ten of them around the city. Do this in groups; _do not_ go anywhere alone."

Kagome looked down at the flier that was laid on her desk. It was almost eerie looking at the pretty, smiling, raven-haired girl staring back at her who, at the time the picture was taken, didn't know that one day it would be posted all over Tokyo with the word 'MISSING' across the top of it.

"Mrs. Akito is really serious about finding those missing kids," Sango said at lunch later that day where she, Kagome, and Miroku were sitting at their usual table near the back. Kouga was currently in the senior cafeteria on a smoothie-run for them, and Rin was waiting in the lunch line.

"Well, at least someone is," Kagome grumbled, glaring toward a group of kids at the table across from them who were whispering about it excitedly as if it were some scary piece of folklore.

"Can we talk about something else?" Miroku pleaded. "It's terrible and all, but I've heard about it so much that I'm sick of it. You won't believe the crazy stories that people have come up with."

Sango nodded in agreement, swallowing a bite of cookie she was chewing before she spoke. "Yeah, some kid in my second period blames it on aliens. Can you believe that? Claims he saw a UFO and everything. _Ha_!"

"I have an even better one," said Kagome. "Someone told Rin that human-eating monsters were on the loose and got her all scared. It took me twenty minutes to calm her down."

"Figures…" said Sango. "Where the hell is Rin anyway? She's been in the lunch line forever. She does have somebody helping her, right?"

Kagome gasped in horror and jumped up from her chair. It slammed into another chair behind her and created a loud bang that echoed throughout the cafeteria.

"I FORGOT!"

A wave of guilt crashed violently into her conscience. It hadn't been the first time that she had forgotten to help Rin with her books, or walk her to class, or, like today, help her through the pack of hungry students waiting in the lunch line. They had probably all pushed their way past her, snickering at her attempt to handle her crutches and a tray full of food at the same time.

"What is it Sango? The fourth time that poor, little Rin has had to fend for herself in the lunch line of death, or the fifth?" asked Miroku.

"Shut up Miroku." Sango glared. "Come on Kagome, we'll go find her."

"Actually," Miroku began, looking off into the crowd behind Kagome. "I think she already has all the help she needs."

Sango gaped wide-eyed in the same direction as Miroku. "You can't be serious…"

Kagome turned around to see what the others were staring at, and her jaw dropped. Walking toward their table was Rin accompanied by none other than Hojo, holding both of their trays and keeping a slow pace so that Rin could keep up on her crutches. The corners of his mouth were turned upward in a smile, and his lips moved with pleasant chatter. Rin's eyes glistened as she gazed up in awe at her knight in shining armor, a heavy blush sitting on her cheeks as she listened intently upon every word that he was saying. When they arrived to the table, Hojo asked Rin where she wanted to sit, sat her tray on the table, and pulled a chair out for her.

"Well, see you later Rin. It was nice talking to you. So I'll meet you there at seven o'clock?"

The crimson of Rin's cheeks spread to the rest of her face. She managed a small 'yes' and a 'thank you' before Hojo walked away.

"What the hell was _that_ about?" Sango came at Rin across the table with aggressive curiosity.

"And what did he mean 'meet you there at seven o' clock'?" Kagome asked, joining Sango in the interrogation.

Rin had a dreamy look in her eyes as she bit her bottom lip, grinning from ear to ear. "He helped me with my tray," she said with a giggle.

"Yeah, but why was he talking about seven o' clock? He didn't ask you on a _date, _did he?" questioned Sango.

Rin giggled again, her face redder than ever and smiling her head off. "He asked me to the dance."

Kagome and Sango looked to each other dumbfounded then back to Rin.

Miroku sighed. "Before you two go into overprotective mode, I'd like to note that you should be very happy for Rin considering that after all she's been through she now has a date to the dance with the man of her dreams."

Sango started to say something in protest but stopped, furrowed her brow, and slumped back down into her chair looking both angry and ashamed.

Kagome frowned. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for Rin; she just wasn't sure about Hojo's sincerity. He was head-over-heels for her less than a month ago, and now he's flirting with Rin? Was he trying to use Rin to get close to her? Was this just his way of saying 'thank you for saving my life'? Kagome didn't know, but she wasn't going to say anything. Rin was looking happier than she had seen her look for a long time, and she wasn't about to spoil it.

_Besides_, she thought, smiling to herself, _if he hurts her, he'll have all of us to answer to. _

"Also," Miroku added, interrupting her thoughts. "I see Kouga coming. I would recommend not mentioning anything about any of this until he's a safe distance away from Hojo."

Kagome and Sango agreed without argument, and Rin even broke away from her dream world long enough to nod at Miroku's request. By the look on Kouga's face as he stormed up to the table, they could tell that he was already annoyed.

"These smoothies better be the best goddamn smoothies you've ever had in your lives," he grumbled angrily as he sat them on the table with a bit too much force, spattering droplets of delicious fruity beverage everywhere. "The damn smoothie machine went haywire, and it took fifteen minutes for them to get the stupid thing working again."

Everyone took the glass that matched the flavor they had asked for, ignoring Kouga's sour attitude that they were so accustomed to.

"Is that why you took you so long?" Sango asked, purposely pushing his buttons.

"No." Kouga glared daggers at her. "I took so long because Mrs. Takaya has to act like she's the damn smoothie police. 'Mr. Ookami, where are you going with those smoothies?' What the hell does it matter? Bitch…"

"Kouga, it'll be okay—I promise," Miroku said between sips of strawberry-watermelon-mango goodness. "Be calm."

Kagome smiled at Kouga who had his arms crossed and brow wrinkled, grumpier than ever because of his unappreciated struggle. She laid her head against his shoulder.

"Thank you, Kouga," she said in her sweetest baby voice.

He looked down at her and sighed, realizing that he was letting his anger get the best of him again. He leaned his head down to kiss the top of her head. "You're welcome, Kagome."

Sango mimicked a vomiting noise, and Kouga threw one of Rin's French fries at her. Sango reached for Miroku's empty milk carton, but their would-have-been food fight was interrupted by the voice of the principal coming over the intercom.

"_Good afternoon East Tokyo High! All students are asked to report to the auditorium directly after lunch. Thank you."_

"Probably some jarhead trying to get us to join the military." Sango rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't think so," said Miroku. "We don't have a speaker scheduled today that I know of…"

"You think it's about the kidnappings?" asked Kouga.

"Could be…" Miroku shrugged.

After the bell rang for fourth period, the four thousand students of East Tokyo High made their way to the auditorium. Kouga and Miroku ran ahead of the crowd to get good seats while Kagome and Sango stayed behind to help Rin get there without being trampled by the massive horde. By the time they arrived at the auditorium most people were already seated. Ignoring Rin's apologies for being 'an inconvenience', Kagome and Sango surveyed the crowd for Miroku and Kouga.

"There they are," Kagome said, pointing Sango in the direction of their boyfriends who were waving at them from the third row. The three seats between them may possibly have been the only empty ones left in the entire auditorium. As Kagome, Sango, and Rin slowly made their way across the auditorium, the lights above the audience dimmed and those above the stage brightened. The principal had just arrived at center stage when they had finally taken their seats.

"Thanks," Kagome whispered to Kouga as she sat down. He took her hand in his and stroked the back of it with his thumb.

The principal removed the mike from its stand and flashed his perfect, porcelain smile.

"Hello East Tokyo High!" he greeted enthusiastically.

"Hello, Mr. Morioka," the students replied half-heartedly.

The principal of East Tokyo High, a half-Neko, had been a model in his earlier years. Many female students wouldn't mind being sent to his office, what with his slicked-back, auburn hair, his chiseled jaw, and those dreamy, golden eyes. His arrogance, however, was enough to make anyone's stomach turn. He walked about the halls of East Tokyo in his designer suit, flashing his pearly whites at any female he passed while his staff shook their heads in disgust. He did too good of a job to get fired though. Despite his cockiness and conceit, he ran the school with flying colors; making on-the-spot decisions left and right, finding new ways to raise competency test scores, keeping the custodians happy, and getting in good with the superintendent so that he could directly influence school policy in East Tokyo's favor.

"How is everyone this afternoon?" he asked, that huge grin still plastered on his face. "I'll try to make this quick. I know you're all eager to get back to class." He chuckled.

No one laughed or reacted in any way. This cheesy joke had been told a thousand times before or at least at the beginning of every assembly that Kagome had gone to anyway.

"Now, I'm going to start off on a serious note and assume that you've all heard about the recent kidnappings," he began, replacing his cheerful tone with a stern one, pacing back and forth across the stage with one hand buried in his blazer pocket. "But in case you've been living under a rock for the past two days, forty-three people were reported missing in Tokyo over the weekend, and six of those people went to your school."

He stopped at center stage and stared out at the sea of students, his expression hardened and grave. He looked like he was back in his modeling days, posing dramatically for some black-and-white cologne advertisement in a high-fashion magazine.

"Does anyone know how many people have gone missing in Japan in the last few weeks?" he asked rhetorically.

Kagome looked around. The students were actually listening; no one discretely texting, no one having a whispered conversation with their friend, no one falling asleep; this assembly was different, it had captivated the interest of the student body. It's odd how the world works—pep rallies for cancer research are boring, but missing children is entertainment.

"Two-hundred-twenty-nine people," he answered. "Two-hundred-twenty-nine Japanese people have just vanished—all of them human. Worldwide, there have been well over a thousand disappearances, and no one knows who's doing it."

He paused for dramatic effect.

"The government does have its speculations and theories. They seem to think that it's some sort of gang activity. Now, I don't know what it is, but I do know that it's just not safe out there anymore, and that's why, while you were all working hard in your morning classes, a new law was passed that will soon take effect in all of Japan. That law states that no person under the age of eighteen will be permitted to be outdoors after the hour of ten o'clock."

It was like Mr. Morioka had told them that there would be no more Christmas. Groans of protest erupted throughout the auditorium like dynamite. 'Whaat?'s, Aw-Man! 's, and 'Seriously?'s could be heard everywhere, but what other reaction would one expect from your stereotypical unreasonable teenager? In contrast with the majority, Kagome thought that keeping people safe was worth the sacrifice.

"This is _bogus_!" exclaimed a rabbit-demon sitting in front of her to his friend. "You can't tell me that this law is gonna apply to demons too!"

After several failed attempts at 'shhing', the principal put his mouth close to the microphone and bellowed a stern "SILENCE!"

The students unwillingly hushed and focused their attention, and hatred, back to Mr. Morioka.

"It's just a simple safety precaution to protect you children," the principle explained, expressing irritation at their behavior while still trying to come off as the good guy. "I don't want any more of my students to go missing. I know you demons think that you're invincible, but believe it or not, there are people in this world stronger than you are."

The rabbit-demon scoffed, and a girl in the front row raised her hand.

"Do you have a question, young lady?" the principal asked with a flirtatious smirk.

"Um… yeah…" She was thrown off guard by his advance, but she was a pretty girl and should have expected it. "What's the punishment if we break this law?"

"A week in my office," he said with a wink.

Kagome cringed at the beyond-inappropriate joke.

"Aaah, I'm just pulling your leg of course. That wouldn't really be a punishment at all, would it? Ha-ha…" When no one laughed he continued. "Violation in this law will result in a thirty day suspension of your driver's license, and if don't have one yet, you will have a thirty day suspension when you get one."

After another wave of whines and complaints made its way across the auditorium, another girl raised her hand.

"What about the fall dance on Saturday? It doesn't end until ten o' clock."

"Fortunately for you guys, the law won't take effect until after the dance. All school activities after next Wednesday will end before the new legal curfew."

The groans, moans, and raised hands after this statement went ignored.

"Now that the question and answer segment is _over_, I'd like to introduce Natsuki Azuka, president of Parents against Kidnapping Children. She's here today to teach you some standard safety precautions. I ask that you please give her your full attention."

Sadly, light applause was all of the attention that Natsuki Azuka was given. While the genuinely uninteresting woman on stage discussed the dangers of talking to strangers, the student body thumbed the keys of their cell phones, conversed quietly with their friends, and closed their eyes to catch a nap before their next class. Kagome's own eyelids became heavy as she listened to the speaker, and she herself had accidently fallen asleep against Kouga's shoulder despite her attempts not to, awakening only to the shrill ring of the bell for fifth period.

At first, dazed and half-asleep, she thought that she was home in bed, and it was her alarm clock that had awoken her. But when she heard Mr. Morioka's voice dismissing them over the microphone and felt Kouga's gentle nudge, she came to the sad realization that she was at school. Then, grudgingly, she realized that she still had two more classes to go before she could go home. But these petty disappointments were trivial compared to her final and sickeningly horrifying realization: she had four minutes to get to Mr. Takahashi's class which was two stories and several long hallways away. Not only that, but she would have to push her way through the gargantuan mass of students who were also leaving the auditorium and heading to their fifth period classes.

"I have to go!" she announced to her friends as jumped from her seat and hurried toward the exit, dizzy from the sudden transition from calm to panic.

"Wait!" Rin shouted as Kagome sped off. "Kagomeee!"

Kagome didn't stop. Rin, concerned as always, was probably worried about why she was in such a hurry, but she didn't have the time to explain. She shuttered at the thought of showing up late to her literature class, and chills ran down her spine when she imagined Mr. Takahashi's reaction to a knock on his classroom door after the tardy bell had rang.

_I can do this; I just have to run faster… Gotta' get to an elevator..._

She pushed her way through a group of lollygaggers who had inconveniently assembled in the middle of the hallway and made her way to the elevators only to find that the line of students waiting for them was backed up all the way to the library.

_Darn, darn, darn!_

Kagome turned back and dashed toward the stair well at the end of the hall. She sprinted up two flights of stairs and halfway down the main sophomore hallway to her locker, her heart beating out of her chest as she grabbed her literature book and binder without hesitation . Now that she was on the correct floor, the only thing that separated her from Mr. Takahashi's class was the long, daunting hallway that stretched out in front of her.

The three short 'dings' of the warning bell chimed tauntingly, and Kagome went into panic mode. Thirty seconds remained to get to class, and they ticked by like a bomb timer in her head as she gathered up every ounce of speed in her being to run, if possible, even faster.

_I'm gonna make, I have to make it…_

Her heart was racing. She could taste salty perspiration on her lips, and her leg muscles were burning with the sensation of lactic acid fermentation. She made a left turn from the main hallway into a smaller hall that branched off from it by the restrooms, and there it was—Mr. Takahashi's classroom door. It was open, teasingly inviting her to come in before the man inside mercilessly did horrible things to her.

She plunged into the entrance just as the high-pitched ring of the final bell echoed throughout the hall. She had made it. She was probably dying of exhaustion, but she had made it. She plopped down into her chair, breathing heavily. The rest of the class, who also had came all the way from the auditorium, were out of breath and covered with sweat as well. Mr. Takahashi either didn't notice or didn't care because he calmly closed the door and returned to his podium where he began taking attendance.

"Higurashi, Kagome."

"Here…" she gasped when her name was called, still taking deep, shuttering breaths of air. _I hope I never have to do _that _again… _

Kagome felt relieved, and she tried to calm down as Mr. Takahashi finished calling the roll.

"Saji, Hitaru."

"Here!"

"Suromi, Saiko."

"Here."

"Taisho, Rin."

... Silence.

Kagome's heart fell to her stomach as she looked to the empty desk beside her.

It hadn't been the first time that she had forgotten to help Rin with her books, or walk her to class, or help her through the lunch line. No, it hadn't been the first time-but it was the worst time.


	6. The Dance

Chapter 5

The Dance

_"We are fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance." ~Japanese Proverb_

Kagome was completely mortified as she stared in horror at the empty seat beside her. She remembered Rin shouting for her back in the auditorium. Why hadn't it hit her that Rin had needed her help? How on earth could she have forgotten?

Ignoring the natural fear of having direct communication with Mr. Takahashi, Kagome raised her hand high in the air, a look of helplessness on her face.

"You have a question, Higurashi…" he stated more so than he asked, not looking up from his attendance book.

"Um, y-yes… I mean, no! I mean… Rin Taisho is here, sensei. She's on crutches, so it's probably taking her a while to get here…" She felt like a mouse pleading to a lion.

Mr. Takahashi didn't respond to Kagome's explanation but continued to call roll. She didn't know what to do or what his indifference indicated, so she remained quiet, staring at the door and hoping desperately that he would be understanding and forgive Rin when she came in late.

The minutes felt like hours. Kagome continuously looked from Mr. Takahashi, who had begun lecturing, to the clock above his desk, to the door, then back to Mr. Takahashi. Her anxiety grew with every tick of the clock's second hand. So much that she was beginning to feel nauseous—she was sick with guilt.

It finally happened an excruciating ten minutes later while she was staring at the door. She had been begging to it: _Please, please, help Rin get to you faster!_ To her surprise, an answer came in the form of two soft, uneasy knocks. Everyone's heads snapped toward the door as Mr. Takahashi stopped his discussion of ancient Japanese literature and calmly walked to the entrance. Kagome's heart was pounding, and she had to grasp the drawer under her desk to stop her hands from shaking. He slowly turned the brass knob and opened the door to reveal a trembling, terrified Rin, her eyes wide with fear. Kagome could have sworn that she saw her shrink ten inches as the six-foot-eight, daunting dog-demon glowered down at her.

Rin quickly bowed her head and apologized. When Mr. Takahashi didn't react, she slowly made her way to her seat, not daring to look back at him. Kagome wanted so badly to explain herself to Rin, but all she could do was give her an apologetic look that she hoped conveyed her tremendous guilt. Rin gave her a small smile and mouthed an 'It's okay' that made Kagome feel even worse. Rin propped her crutches against her desk, took her seat, and removed her text book and notebook from her backpack.

Kagome had a bad feeling; Mr. Takahashi hadn't continued teaching, but was waiting patiently as Rin removed her things from her backpack. Once she had finished, she looked up to see that he was still standing by the door and staring at her coldly. Her eyes grew wide and her lips trembled when she understood that she wasn't off the hook.

"Stand up," he commanded.

She was obviously confused by his demand. She broke her gaze away from him and looked around the classroom for help, hoping that someone would whisper that she had misunderstood him and tell her what he really said. But everyone was just as confused as she was, including Kagome. It sounding like he asked her to stand up?

When no one came to her rescue she turned back to Mr. Takahashi, having no other option. "H-huh?"

"Can you not hear?" Rin shrunk in her seat. "I said to stand up. You will stand for what remains of the period. Don't expect to drag yourself into my class ten minutes late without consequence."

His words cut through you like razor blades, even if they hadn't been directed toward you. Kagome had felt it, and she knew that the entire class had too. It must have been a hundred times worse for Rin who looked like she had been physically harmed as she rose from her chair and brought her crutches back to her shaking body for support. Everyone watched like witnesses of a horrible car accident that was too interesting to look away. Mr. Takahashi, looking almost satisfied, returned to the podium where he continued his lecture.

"Until year 794, Chinese characters were used in Japanese syntactical formats, and the result was sentences that looked like Chinese but phonetically read as Japanese…"

Kagome gaped, unable to believe what was happening. Mr. Takahashi had punished Rin, who had to come all the way from the auditorium on crutches, a feat that Kagome had barely accomplished with two fully functional legs, for being late to his class. Then he callously continued teaching as if nothing had happened, and the students were taking notes, none daring to speak up for the small girl in the front row who would stand for forty-five minutes despite her injury; scared and embarrassed, probably exhausted from walking such a long distance... and no one would say anything? Kagome's face was hot with anger—fiery anger that gave her the courage that her classmates didn't have. Her hand darted in the air, not hesitantly like before, but audaciously with the force of determination.

"During the Medieval Period Japan experienced many civil wars which led to a warrior class and subsequent war tales… and it would be in your best interest to stay out of things that don't involve you, Higurashi." Once again, he didn't even bother looking up from his book.

This made her furious. She jumped up from her chair in her rage and everyone gawked at her in shock, aside from Mr. Takahashi who raised an eyebrow at her, looking legitimately unimpressed. Rin vigorously shook her head 'no' in attempt to get Kagome to stop. It was to no avail, however.

"This just isn't fair! She's on crutch-…"

"Perhaps Rin would like to stand for the rest of the week?" he suggested.

Kagome started to say something but stopped. There was nothing that she could do or say to help Rin, and she was crushed. In fact, she was only making things worse for her. She slinked back into her chair in defeat, devastated that she was powerless and sad for Rin who shifted awkwardly on her crutches until the bell rang.

It turned out that the incident had more of a traumatizing effect on Kagome than it had had on Rin. For the remaining four days of the school week Kagome had been sure to help Rin get to class on time, and carry her books, and assist her through the lunch line... and shine her shoes… (or at least she would have if Rin had wanted her to). Rin, of course constantly reminded her that it had been a simple mistake, but Kagome couldn't tame the guilt that lingered in her conscience. Rin, surprisingly, hadn't been very bothered at all by the whole ordeal. Mainly, because she was still overjoyed that Hojo had asked her to the dance.

"Kagome, you're beautiful!" Rin gasped aloud and cupped her hand over her mouth as she stared agape at Kagome, who had just put on her dress for the dance that they would both be at in fifteen minutes.

"Thanks, Rin." Kagome smiled. "Do you really think so, or are you just saying that?" she asked skeptically, knowing not to trust Rin with compliments considering that the girl had also said that her mud-stained stockings were pretty.

"I'm not just saying that!" Rin swore. "You're absolutely stunning!"

Kagome stared at herself in the full-length mirror on the back of her bedroom door with uncertainty. "I don't know, Rin…" She never thought that she would be so bold as to sport a canary-yellow dress, but her mother had talked her into it. It was short too, which was also different for her-not too short, but above her knees anyway. It laced up in the back, and she wore earthy-brown heels that showed off the calf muscles that she didn't know she had. She had a clutch that was the same brown color as her shoes because her shoes and her bag were supposed to match, or at least that's what her mom said. The idea, apparently, was to look fall-y. It was a fall dance, so she assumed it was appropriate. But still the yellow seemed a bit much, maybe a maroon color like Sango's dress would have suited her better…

"Trust me, Kagome. I swear that right now you're the prettiest girl that I've ever seen in my life! Kouga's gonna love it!" Rin looked sincere, and Kagome tried to shake off her self-consciousness.

"Thank you, Rin." She smiled warmly at the girl on her bed who had always been there to make things better. "You know, Hojo's not going to be disappointed either. You look fantastic..."

It wasn't a lie. Kagome had been a bit stunned when Rin had walked out of her bathroom in her orange, flowing gown, her hair falling down her shoulders in glossy ringlets. It was partially open in the back, showing off Rin's amazing shoulder blades. Her collar bones were also exposed, protruding elegantly beneath her neck. She looked more womanly than Kagome had ever seen her.

"Aww, Kagome…" Rin grinned bashfully, a natural blush probably under the artificial blush that Kagome had brushed across her cheeks earlier. In just a moment however, her glee from the compliment turned into melancholy. "I'm gonna look stupid with these crutches." She sighed forlornly. "I'm not going to be able to dance or anything…"

"Yes you will," said Kagome, as if it were obvious. Rin looked to her, confused. "You can lean against Hojo for support." She winked, and she was sure that Rin blushed, but once again she couldn't tell.

There was a few quick knocks on Kagome's door and Souta peeked his head in.

"Kouga's here," he informed.

Because Hojo was still too young to drive, Kouga was taking both Kagome and Rin to the dance. Miroku was picking up Sango, and they would all meet up once they were there. Kouga hadn't been too happy when Kagome had told him about Rin's date, but she made him promise that he wouldn't say anything, although she was still a little worried about what he would do if Hojo provoked him again. After what had happened just a few weeks prior, this should have been her biggest fear, but it wasn't. Her biggest worry concerned what was going to happen after the dance… and in Kouga's bedroom specifically. Kouga had no idea about what she had planned for tonight, and for all her mother knew she was sleeping over at Sango's house. Normally she would have felt much more guilt for lying to her mom, but her nerves kept her from feeling anything but the jitters.

As she and Rin walked past Souta he smiled pleasantly up at his big sister.

"You look really pretty, Kagome."

She blinked, taken aback, and smiled. "Thank you, Souta…" It was rare that her brother complimented her. Her heart warmed.

"KAGOMEEEEEE!" shouted her mother from downstairs, ruining the moment. "IF YOU DON'T HURRY YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

Kagome sighed, kissed Souta's forehead, and ruffled his hair before she descended the stairs, Rin following close behind.

Kouga stood at the bottom of the stair case beside her mother whose face was hidden behind a camera as she flashed pictures manically. Her grandpa was standing off to the left holding his cane, eyes gleaming with pride and reminiscence. Even Buyo was intrigued, watching curiously from his napping place on the back of the couch.

_Geez, it's not like I'm getting married…_

It was a good thing that she wasn't epileptic because by the time Kagome had reached her living room, all she could see were green and purple spots from the innumerable flashes of the camera.

"Oh, Kagome! Rin! You're both so beautiful!" Ms. Higurashi squealed with motherly delight, as she tightly wrapped her arms around both of them in a loving embrace.

"Thanks, mom," she said, though it was a bit muffled because her face was buried in her mother's breasts.

"Kouga, you're a lucky man." Her grandfather patted her boyfriend firmly on the back. "You get to take the two pretties girls in Tokyo to the school dance!"

Kagome laughed and rolled her eyes good-naturedly toward her grandpa's over-exaggerated comment.

"Oh stop it, grandpa." She wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. He returned her hug with a chuckle. "Well, it's true!"

When she released her grandfather, Kouga came to her side, looking almost nervous. "Wow, Kagome. You look… amazing."

Rin was usually the one blushing, but now it was Kagome's turn. She grinned modestly as her cheeks turned red. "Thank you, Kouga. You're not too bad yourself," she teased.

Kouga, who had came to school in a mouse costume not too long ago, thought that he would look stupid in a tuxedo. Tonight he wore more of a semi-formal getup; dark khakis and a pale yellow button-up shirt that kind of matched Kagome's look because, apparently, there was also a rule that dates were supposed to match.

Kouga smirked and offered Kagome and Rin his arms. "Shall we go, then?"

Both girls took an arm with a smile, and her mother snapped one more picture before they walked out the door. Souta followed carrying Rin's crutches.

"Make sure you take care of my girls, Kouga!" her mother yelled from the doorway. "Don't let them wander off by themselves!"

"You won't have anything to worry about, Ms. Higurashi!" Kouga shouted back as he held the backseat door open for Rin. "I'll take good care of them!"

After Kouga let Kagome into the passenger seat, he got into the car and pulled out of the driveway, driving considerably slower than he would if his girlfriend's family hadn't been watching. Kagome could see them reflected in the rearview mirror; her mother, grandfather, and little brother waving goodbye from the doorstep. For some reason she felt a shiver run down her spine as she watched the reflection get smaller and smaller until they had completely vanished from her sight.

The windows of East Tokyo High displayed nothing but darkness, except for those of the huge gymnasium and the gym lobby on the right wing of the school. Bright lights poured from these windows, occasionally changing colors from brown to red to orange and so on, strobes inside surely responsible for the cascade of fall colors. The low thud of the music could be heard all the way from where Kouga had parked.

A couple in formal attire were arguing outside of the entrance as Kagome, Kouga, and Rin made their way into the gym lobby where Kouga purchased their tickets from her Astronomy teacher who was helping out with the dance.

"Kougaa! You didn't have to do that! Hojo said that he was going to pay for mine…" Rin frowned as Kouga handed her a ticket.

"Well my money's better than Hojo's," he said. "And don't start that 'I'll pay you back' crap."

"Fine, I won't!" Rin stuck her tongue out in pretend anger, and Kouga laughed.

"…Um, Rin?"

Kagome, Kouga, and Rin all turned around to see Hojo standing there timidly, far enough away to be out of Kouga's reach.

Kagome sighed, Kouga scowled, and Rin became flustered.

"Hi, Hojo…" she greeted softly with her eyes downcast.

"Hey, Rin," he replied. "So… I guess I'll buy your ticket, and then we'll go in the gym if you want to…"

"Oh, um, Kouga already bought it," she explained with a nervous laugh.

"Oh…" Hojo frowned, and Kouga grinned to himself, pleased.

"So, I guess we can just go on in then," Hojo decided after an awkward silence.

Hojo took Rin's crutches with one arm and paused before offering his other to her. In complete bliss, she laced her small arm around his and went into the gymnasium to experience what had so far been the best night of her young life.

Kagome couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic as she watched them walk away, like a mother watching her daughter go on her first date. She sighed it off and turned to Kouga, taking both of his hands in hers and looking up to him. "Well, what do you want to do?"

"Look for Miroku and Sango?" he suggested.

"Good idea."

Kagome and Kouga made their way into the gymnasium, giving their tickets to a man she recognized as a janitor at the entrance.

"Have a good time," he mumbled unenthusiastically. Kagome wondered how much he was getting paid for this.

The gymnasium had been transformed from a place of volleyball nets and basketball games to a flamboyant dance floor. Way too loud pop music blasted from the gigantic speakers that had been set up everywhere. The strobes flashed colorful light around wildly and, for the second time that day, she was fortunate to not be epileptic. Autumn colored balloons and streamers decorated the room, and from a birds-eye-view the girls in all of their red, yellow, and orange dresses probably really looked like fallen leaves. Of course, there were those who hadn't understood the theme and were self-consciously sporting dresses of blue, pink, and violet among other inappropriate colors.

The DJ booth on the upper-half of the gym had attracted the students like a magnet, and the majority of the crowd had bunched up in close proximity of it. Tables had been set out on the lower half of the gym where the chaperones sat, as well as dancers who were taking a break and kids who didn't want to dance at all but had went to the trouble to dress up and come. As Kagome scanned the setters for Miroku or Sango, she was taken aback to see Mr. Takahashi sitting at a table all by himself, staring stoically off into the distance. She nudged Kouga and pointed him out.

"Wow… You know, back when I had him he didn't really seem like the chaperone type," Kouga shouted over the loud music.

"Trust me," said Kagome. "He still isn't the chaperone type…"

"Maybe he's getting paid or something." Kouga shrugged, and headed off to the right of the dance floor, toward a table that held chips, chocolate-covered fruit, finger-sandwiches, and, of course, the punch bowl. They ran into Miroku there, leaning against the table and sipping thoughtfully on a cup of punch.

"Hey," greeted Kouga. "Where's Sango?"

"Mad at me," Miroku replied with a 'what-can-ya-do?' expression on his face.

"Mad at you? What happened?" Kagome asked, leaning in closer so that she didn't have to shout so loudly to be heard.

"Well," began Miroku with a sigh. "She seems to think that I grabbed this girl's behind, when really I just gracefully caressed it on accident. So now she's run off, and I have no idea where she went…"

Kagome would have completely believed the story if the words "on accident" had been removed from it.

"Don't worry; she'll turn up after she's punched a few holes through your windshield," Kouga said with a laugh.

Kagome and Kouga left Miroku to wait for Sango and headed for the dance floor. Kagome was a bit reluctant as she twisted her butt around, mimicking the other girls who danced to the upbeat song with confidence. Was she doing it right? She didn't know. She had never been great at dancing. She never danced, not even in her room while no one was watching. For some reason she had just always felt awkward doing it. Apparently she wasn't dancing badly enough to be noticed, because Kouga didn't say anything, but kind of wiggled his body to the music along with her, also looking a bit uncomfortable. Maybe he really couldn't dance either.

After kind-of-dancing through a few fast paced, butt-twisting songs, Kagome was relieved when a soft, slow melody radiated throughout the gym, bringing students close to their dance partners in the good ol' simple slow dance.

Kagome put her hands on Kouga's shoulders and he placed his around her waist. They swayed back and forth to the slow beat of the love song, and Kagome observed the other dancers over Kouga's shoulder as they went around in circles. She noticed Yuka, her body pressed against her third boyfriend of the week, his hands firm on her derriere. She was happy to see Rin and Hojo dancing not too far away. Rin looked like she was in heaven as Hojo held her body close to his as they danced, supporting her injured leg with his own. Hojo, however, looked completely uninterested. In fact, he was looking right at Kagome.

_That little…_

How could he? He was using Rin to get close to her, after all!

Kagome shot Hojo a fiercely cruel look, and he quickly darted his eyes away from her. She would have liked to have tackled him down and strangled him right then and there, but Rin looked so happy, and she didn't want to ruin her night. Maybe she would tell Rin about it tomorrow, but for now she definitely wasn't going to say anything.

Though she was sad for Rin, she was pleased to see Miroku and Sango dancing together when she looked back off into the crowd. Sango looked irritated, but she danced with him nevertheless, and Kagome was sure she would be completely over in within the next ten minutes.

Kagome's eyes returned to Kouga, but occasionally glanced back to Sango and Miroku, who by the second glance, had seemed to have made up, and Rin and Hojo, who she glared at every time she saw him staring at her. The third time she casually looked to Rin and Hojo, however, her heart stopped. She almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. Others began to stare and point as well. Everyone was confused as to why Mr. Takahashi was on the dance floor, talking sternly to a little girl, whatever he was saying apparently frightening her because she was trembling so much and her eyes were so wide.

_Oh no…_

From where Kagome was at she couldn't tell what was happening, but she knew that it had to be bad. She pulled Kouga closer to Rin and Hojo so that she could hear what was being said. Kouga looked puzzled as his girlfriend broke away from his tender hold and jerked him in a different direction.

"Kagome, where are w-"

"Shhh!" Kagome turned quickly to Kouga with her index finger against her pursed lips, and motioned in the direction of Rin, Hojo, and Mr. Takahashi.

"I'm sorry Miss Taisho," Mr. Takahashi said to Rin, not sounding 'sorry' at all. "… but you cannot dance with a leg injury. You may over-exert yourself, and the school doesn't need a lawsuit on its record."

"B-b-but…" Rin stuttered, stunned and confused with tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"You can take a seat or go home, whichever you prefer."

Kagome could feel Rin's heart break from where she was at. The other onlookers, once they had understood what had happened, shook their heads in sympathy for Rin and continued dancing. The small girl looked down, tears surely rolling down her cheeks by this point, and limped off toward the lower half of the gym, to the tables and chairs. Hojo looked up to Mr. Takahashi in confusion, and Kagome didn't know quite what to make of what she saw next.

Mr. Takahashi, already at least a foot taller than Hojo, seemed to grow even taller as he glared down at the boy with fiery intensity. What happened then had both Hojo, and even Kagome who was a good distance away from them, paralyzed with fear. The terrifying dog-demon was trying to control some sort of horrible anger. His long, slender fingers were clenched into fists, and he was shaking. She had seen this before—this was how Kouga had looked at the movies, just before he had lunged for Hojo in attack and had accidently hurt Rin instead. This was different though; Mr. Takahashi was much older, and in turn much stronger than Kouga was. If he decided to attack Hojo, Hojo didn't have a chance, and by the way he looked, he was aware of this.

Mr. Takahashi closed his eyes tightly, and tried to control the rage that had overcome him. But when they opened, they opened wide and were crimson in color. Kagome gasped and her legs wanted to run, but her eyes were glued to what she couldn't believe what happening right in front of her. The silver bits of hair around Mr. Takahashi's face flew up like the fur of an angry cat, his eyes still blood-red as they stared madly at Hojo. Hojo tried to back away, but the dog-demon grabbed his arm so tightly that it threatened to break and pulled him back. Hojo winced in pain as Mr. Takahashi gave a quick, sharp warning into his ear and pushed him away. He clenched his eyes shut once again, and tried to shake off his anger before backing away from Hojo and storming off, leaving the situation altogether. Kagome had a feeling that he wasn't going to stick around to continue chaperoning.

Hojo watched in utter shock, and Kagome quickly turned to Kouga who had also seen it all happen but was surprised to see that he wasn't there. She looked around frantically for him, and finally spotted him pushing his way through the dancers toward her along with Sango and Miroku.

"Kagome!" she heard Sango shout as she and Miroku, led by Kouga, ran up to where she was standing. "Is Rin okay?"

Kagome stared at them all, stunned. Her head snapped to Kouga. "Kouga, d-did you see that? Please tell me you saw that…"

"Uh, no?" he replied, looking around to see if anything interesting was happening. "See what, Kagome? I went tell Miroku and Sango what happened. Where's Rin? "

Kagome quickly turned away from him and surveyed the crowd desperately, looking for anyone who appeared weirded-out or scared, but everyone was dancing in ignorant bliss of the situation. She stared off in disbelief as she realized that the only ones who knew about what had happened were Hojo, Mr. Takahashi, and herself.

"Kagome, are you okay?" Kouga asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. "We should probably go sit with Rin…"

Kagome watched Hojo, who was still standing there, the only one in the room who was just as shocked as she was. He held his arm where Mr. Takahashi had grabbed it, still staring in the direction that he had gone, people bumping into him as they danced to the fast-paced rap song that had just begun blasting from the speakers.

"Y-yeah," she answered after a moment. "Let's go…"

For some odd reason, Kagome didn't tell her friends about what she had seen that night. She didn't know why… maybe she still wasn't completely sure that it had really happened. She didn't know. She probably should have, but for some reason or another, she just didn't.

Kagome pushed the incident out of her mind and took off in the direction of the table section. Kouga, Miroku, and Sango looked to each other questioning her peculiar behavior, but followed her off of the dance floor without further ado. They saw Rin sitting all by herself at a table in the back, hunched over with her head buried in her arms and shaking with a sob. The poor girl had been so excited just minutes ago, and now her night had been ruined by a crazy dog-demon who was out to get her. In fact, after the thought had crossed her mind, Kagome really believed that Mr. Takahashi had come to the dance solely to ruin Rin's night.

When Kagome and Sango saw Rin, they knew that it was time to go into comfort mode. Kagome sat on one side of her and Sango sat on the other. They rubbed her back, stroked her hair away from her face, soothingly shushed her weeping, and repeated reassuring words like "It's okay…", "We'll sit with you…", "We can leave if you want to…", and "You look so pretty!".

Finally, Rin raised her head, wiping tears and runny eyeliner from her eyes. "I-it's okay. Y-y-you guys sh-should dance…"

"I'll have none of that," said Sango. "We'd much rather stay right here and be with you."

Rin looked to Kagome, Miroku, and Kouga who all nodded in agreement.

"If you can't dance, we won't either," Miroku added with a smile.

"Aww, you guys…" Rin looked touched, and a smile formed on her tear-stained face. "You guys can't stop dancing because of me," she said. "I would feel awful…"

"We need a break anyway," said Kouga with a shrug. "We'll just hang with you until we're ready to dance again." Everyone nodded and shrugged and waved it off like it was no big deal.

Rin reluctantly agreed. As soon as she could hesitantly mumble a "Well, I guess…", Kouga and Miroku took a seat and the fun began. They talked, people-watched, laughed, gossiped, and ate chocolate-covered strawberries until, before they knew it, the dance was nearly over. Rin had been unaware of how much time had passed, and when the DJ announced the last dance she looked to them all with a panicked expression.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, her eyes huge and mouth agape as the slow melody of a final love song played from the speakers. "You guys have to go dance! I can't believe I've kept you all this time! Oh no, oh no, oh noooo!"

They looked to each other in contemplation of what to do. They didn't want to leave Rin by herself, but they knew that there was no way that they were getting out of this.

"Oh, common…" She gave them a playful glare. "I'll be okay by myself for two minutes!"

They laughed at themselves, realizing how parental they really were toward Rin, and with the hesitance of a cat wandering into a doghouse, they left Rin all by herself and made their way to the dance floor.

Kouga took Kagome's hand with one of his, and placed his other on her waist. She draped her arms around his shoulders and looked up into his icy, blue eyes as they gently rocked back and forth to the music. Despite having to leave Rin alone, she was happy that she and Kouga were able dance to the last song. She wanted this moment to be special. She didn't want to be so freaked out about what was going to happen tonight, but she wanted to trust Kouga completely and sincerely want to make love with him.

Kouga smiled down at her reassuringly, almost as if he had read her thoughts. She returned his smile, and he pulled her body close to his so that they weren't really dancing anymore, but more so hugging while swaying about. His hold was warm and loving, and she relaxed. For the first time that night she wasn't nervous or scared.

But little did Kagome know how drastically this would change.

"Bye Kagomeeee!" Rin shouted, waving enthusiastically at the white Cadillac as it backed out of the parking lot.

"See you, Rin!" Kagome yelled from the passenger side's half-open window. "Bye Sango! Bye Miroku!"

"Byeee!" they both chimed in unison. Sango gave her a knowing wink that made her stomach do somersaults.

Kouga messed with the radio as he inched along behind the long line of cars that were also leaving the dance. After skipping through several radio talk shows and advertisements, he sighed and settled with a soft-tuned rock ballad. "Nothin' on…" he mumbled as he glanced around for his IPod to hook up to the auxiliary cord. "Probably left the damn thing at home..." He cursed under his breath. Kagome's anxiety was creeping up on her again as she listened to the brooding melody of the rock song. She didn't know how to tell Kouga about what she was going to do. Should she tell him? (Kouga, I'm going to have sex with you.) Should she ask him? (Kouga, can I have sex with you?) Maybe she should be more subtle... (Kouga, how about we go to your house?)

"So why'd Rin want Miroku to take her home?" he asked as they had finally turned onto the highway. "Isn't her house kind of out of the way for him?"

Being lost in her thoughts, Kagome had been startled enough when Kouga's voice suddenly broke the silence, but she began to panic even more as she racked her brain for an answer to his question. She couldn't tell him the truth; that Miroku was taking Rin home so that she could go straight to his house and… well, you know…

"Oh, um… well, Rin's spending the night with Sango," she lied.

That was close…

"Oh," he said with a nod. "…and you didn't want to join them?" he asked with curiosity.

Darn! She should have thought this through. What reason could she make up for excluding herself from Sango's non-existant sleepover? Maybe she could say she wasn't feeling well, or that she needed to study for her math test, which really was kind of true, or maybe… she should just tell him the truth? After all, she was going to have to tell Kouga something before he turned onto her street to take her home.

"K-Kouga?"

Kouga fleetingly took his eyes off of the road to glance at Kagome who he could sense was bothered about something. "Yeah, Kagome? What's wrong?" he asked in concern.

"Well, Kouga, you see… I-I lied…" She looked down as she twiddled her thumbs nervously.

"Lied?" Confused, he reflected back in wonder of what the usually honest Kagome may have lied about. "About what?"

"About Rin…" She paused to let it sink in but continued when she saw that Kouga was still clueless. "She isn't going to Sango's for a sleepover… Miroku's taking her home."

"Well, then why-"

"Because I kind of wanted to go to your house…" She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her feet. "I lied to my mom too… I, um, I told her that I was sleeping over at Sango's." She laughed a bit at herself with a blush.

Kouga blinked. "My house…?" his voice trailed off in thought. Then he blinked, and his eyes brightened. "Y-you want to come to my house... and stay the night…?" His eyes were big with shock, and a huge grin stretched across his face with realization.

Kagome was hot with embarrassment as she shifted uneasily in her chair. "Yes… I-is that okay?"

"Is that okay?" His looked away from the road and to her like she was crazy. "Are you insane? … I-it's AMAZING!"

Kouga's happiness was contagious, and Kagome laughed aloud. She had been dreading some serious, lovely-dovey, awkward moment but was extremely glad all Kouga did was get really excited and turn the music up at full blast as he speeded up to eighty kilometers an hour. He was still being Kouga. Nothing had changed, and nothing probably would change after they had sex except, maybe, they would be a little closer. She smiled to herself, feeling almost silly that she had made such a big deal about the whole thing in the first place.

At Kouga's life-threatening speed, it didn't take him long to get to his house. Once they had arrived at the three-story, ultra-modern abode, he parked his car outside of the garage beside his mother's Rolls Royce.

Kouga lived on the rich side of town. Despite his dad not being in the picture, his mother was very successful on her own as the CEO of her own company, and she made a lot of money. She was always working, and Kagome had only seen her a handful of times even though she and Kouga had been dating for nine months. The few times she had seen his mom, she was always in a hurry and practically ignored Kagome's attempts to speak to her, giving her a gut feeling that she didn't care for her.

"Oh, I picked up _Dead Land III _from Video Palace the other day. Didn't you want to see it?" Kouga asked as he dropped his keys onto the marble counter.

"Yeah, I had to study for exams the two weeks that it was in theaters. Have you watched it yet?"

"Just the beginning," he answered, digging through his pantry. "I'll make us some popcorn while you go start it. It should be already in the DVD player…"

Kagome made her way to the den, glad that Kouga didn't want to start right off with the love making. She took a seat on the leather couch, sinking into the huge overstuffed cushions, and turned the movie on with the DVD's remote. She tried not to let her thoughts get carried away again, and anytime that she began to feel nervous, she pushed the thought of sex completely out of her mind.

Sex didn't stay out of her mind for very long, however. Within ten minutes of the movie, Kagome and Kouga were already making out, letting the bowl of popcorn that he had made go uneaten. Ten more minutes and they were in his bedroom. She had only enough time to kick off her shoes and lay her purse on Kouga's beside table before she was forced down onto the bed in an open-mouthed kiss, her dress riding up above her lacy underwear that she had worn purposely for the occasion.

Kouga noticed this and bit his lip in sex-deprived excitement.

"K-Kagome… are you sure about this?" he asked, keeping his eyes on her panties.

"One hundred percent," she replied, breathing heavily. She had been hesitant earlier, but twenty minutes of making out had significantly influenced her feelings toward sex.

With that, Kouga slipped the dress over her head and took a moment to observe Kagome's near-naked body. He looked completely engrossed as he looked her up and down, focusing on some areas more than others. Kagome couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious despite her intoxication from lust. It was hard to believe that she actually wasn't going to stop him this time.

Kouga kissed her lips once more, then along her neck and collar bone. Kagome tensed when his mouth reached her breasts, but Kouga gave her a reassuring look and she relaxed. He gently kissed the top of them, and Kagome arched her back to give Kouga room to unhook her bra. His hand reached behind her back, and in one, swift movement her breasts were suddenly free and unsupported. He gently pulled a bra strap from her left shoulder and…

_For every night I pray, I know you will stay, look at us baby, look at us now, we made it baby, look at us now…_

Kagome and Kouga looked to the brown clutch lying on the nightstand where the tune was coming from. The cell phone inside moved the small purse across the table with its vibrations until it finally came to a stop just at the edge of the table, and whoever had called her was answered by her voicemail.

Kagome gave Kouga an apologetic smile, and, without further delay, he focused his attention onto her other bra strap. After he had slid it off of her shoulder, she couldn't help but be a little hesitant about letting it fall from her chest, but Kouga kissed her lips tenderly and stroked her hair back to reassure her. She kissed him back and began to relax her arms that were holding her bra to her chest and…

_For every night I pray, I know you will stay, look at us baby, look at us now, we made it baby, look at us now... Everybody believed we would never be, look at us up above, we are so in love…_

Kouga groaned in frustration and rolled off of Kagome to allow her to answer the phone, mumbling a curse word under his breath. Kagome, holding her bra to her chest, crawled across the bed to the nightstand and rummaged through her purse until she found her cell phone. She was surprised and a little scared when she saw her mother's number on the screen.

"H-hello?..." Kagome's heart was beating a mile a minute. There was no way her mother could have known where she was at… could she?

Her mother responded in an incomprehensible mixture of heart-wrenching screams and sobs. All that she could distinguish was her own name, "Souta", and something about garbage. Kagome immediately became frightened and began to panic.

"Mom… Mom! What are you talking about, mom? Mom, I can't hear you… What's wrong?"

Kouga peeked over in curiosity. "What's wrong Kagome?"

She shushed him and focused her attention back on the phone. Her mother was hyperventilating in her attempt to calm down enough to get her words out.

"Mom, mom calm down… Wh-what's wrong? Is everyone okay? Are you hurt? … Mom!"

"SO-SOUTAAAAA!" she cried in horror.

"Souta?" Everything had begun to go in slow motion again. Just like it had when Rin had gotten hurt. "Wh-what wrong with Souta?..."

"H-h-he just went to take out the trash, Kagome!" her mother howled between sobs. "He went to take out the trash, and-and, now… HE'S GONE!"


	7. Eavesdropping

**A.N.: **Many of you may be wondering when the hell Inuyasha is going to show up. I just want to assure you not to worry—he will be here in due time, I swear.

Chapter 6

Eavesdropping

"_Curiosity killed the cat." ~English Proverb_

It was either really early or really late. Kagome wasn't sure; she didn't know what time it was-or even really what day it was for that matter, but she could see the orange glow of the sunrise creeping into the open blinds of Souta's bedroom window, creating a glare on the glass frame of the drawing she had been staring at for the past two hours. It was a poorly colored drawing of a boy and girl with too large heads having a picnic on a hill side. It was titled "Me and My Big Sister", and on the top right-hand corner was a red ribbon that read "Third Grade Art Show, 2nd Place Winner". He had wanted to win first place so badly, but the poor guy could never learn to color inside the lines.

Kagome had been sleeping in Souta's room for the past six nights. Well, she hadn't really done much sleeping, but she enjoyed lying in his bed because his pillow still smelled like that watermelon kids' detangle conditioner that he always used. It was the only place in the world that felt kind of like he was still there. His toys were scattered about the room as if he had never left them, a stack of video game cases that he had accidently knocked off of his shelf were still laying on the floor, a half-empty glass of apple juice sat unfinished on his bedside table, and if she closed her eyes real tight, she could still hear the familiar Final Fantasy theme that she had learned to ignore over the months.

The whole thing made her want to cry. The fact that the sun was rising again made her want to cry. Why would it? There was no point. Everything would be dark anyway…

But Kagome was all cried out. It had been a week since the night of the fall dance, more painfully known as the night that her little brother was kidnapped. At first, all she could do was cry… and scream, and hyperventilate, and vomit, and pass out... but now she was numb. Her eyes were swollen and exhausted, and her brain had been so overwhelmed with emotional distress that it had nearly stopped working altogether. For the first three days all she could do was lie catatonic in her brother's bed. She was surprised that some small part of her was strong enough to wake her up from this state.

The rest of the family was grieving in their own ways. Her mother was optimistic; so optimistic that it was border line denial. She had been searching without rest ever since the night it happened. She couldn't accept that the chances of ever seeing her son again were very slim.

Her grandfather was a little older and a little wiser, however. He hadn't forgotten that the other two-hundred-something people who had also gone missing in Japan still hadn't been found. He went about his day in somber silence, mourning the kidnapping of his grandson the same way he would have mourned the death of him.

Kagome had been a mixture of the two. She tried to stay positive, but it was so hard when the only thing that anyone talked about anymore was the increase in human disappearances. And there was an increase; a huge increase. Despite the new curfew, an average of seventy people was reported missing a day in Tokyo. The world wide average had gone up drastically too. Kagome knew how small the chance was of finding Souta, but part of her couldn't let go. He was her little brother, he couldn't just be gone … not without a ceremony, or a funeral, or someway of saying goodbye. It wasn't fair.

To top it all off, the world was expecting her to move on, for her life to go back to normal. She had gotten a letter from the school board yesterday. They said that they were "dreadfully sorry for her terrible loss", but that she "must return to school on Monday." Tomorrow was Monday, and she didn't know if she could do it.

_For every night I pray, I know you will stay, look at us baby, look at us now, we made it baby, look at us now…_

Kagome cringed at the ringtone that brought back painful memories and made a mental note to change it. When she glanced over at the lit-up screen of her cell phone, she was only a little surprised to see Sango's number displayed on it. Her poor friends were doing all they could, relentlessly searching for Souta, or at least comfort her in the process.

"Hey, Sango. What are you doing up at…" She pulled the phone away from her ear to glance at the time and blinked. "… five o' clock in the morning?" _Wow, it really is pretty early._

"I'm at Miroku's house." _That explains everything…_

"No, it's not what you're thinking. Get your mind out of the gutter!" Kagome managed a small chuckle and Sango continued. "I was just wondering if you could be ready in about thirty minutes. We've just printed off a crap-load of fliers for Souta, and we're going to post them _everywhere_. Everyone in Japan and probably Korea is going to know who he is by the time we're done."

After six days of grief, the smile that stretched across her cheeks felt almost unnatural. Her friends-how lucky she was to have them.

"Yeah, I can be ready."

"Good. You, me, and Rin are going to cover the mall while Miroku and Kouga post them throughout the city. We'll meet at Curo's Cat Café at eight-o-clock. We're gonna find him, Kagome. I swear it!"

Sango hung up, so determined that she forgot to say goodbye. Kagome smiled warmly at the phone in her hand. With friends like hers, who's to say that they wouldn't find Souta?

"Um, Sango?" Kagome looked down at the very large stack of fliers that she was having a bit of trouble carrying.

"Hmm?"

"How exactly are we going to come up with 2,000,000 yen?" The words "2,000,000 YEN REWARD" at the bottom of the filer was big enough, but she squinted anyway to make sure that she was seeing it correctly.

Sango shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"We could have a bake sale!" Rin suggested.

Kagome sighed.

They stopped at the outside of Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!, which oddly enough was a bookstore, and Rin hurried inside to ask the cashier if it would be okay to post a flier on their window.

"So is your mom holding up okay?" Sango asked as she sat her stack on the nearest bench. It landed with a heavy thud, and she sighed with relief of no longer having to carry it.

"She's trying to stay optimistic," Kagome replied. She herself probably didn't sound too optimistic.

"Well, that's how she should be." Sango was hoping that her positive outlook would rub off on Kagome, but it obviously wasn't. Kagome sat down beside Sango's stack of fliers and stared off blankly into the crowd.

"Kagome…" Sango began, but Rin had suddenly run out of the store, happily announcing that the cashier had given them permission. They posted about ten fliers on the window of Shoes, Shoes, Shoes! and moved on to the next shop.

When every shop window in the mall had been wallpapered with Souta's face, and the three girls' stacks had gotten considerably lighter, they all plopped down on a small couch in a sitting area. An elderly mad reading the Bible in a nearby armchair glared at them suspiciously.

"It's almost eight o' clock," Sango said through heavy breaths. "Are we finished here?"

Kagome couldn't think of a place that was yet to be covered in fliers. They had a substantial amount of fliers left however, and they would probably post more around the city after they had met with Kouga and Miroku.

"Wait!" Rin exclaimed. "I know a place! The bulletin board!"

"What bulletin board?" Sango raised an eyebrow.

"The one near the food court! How could I have forgotten? The bulletin board is where people post things about special events and dogs for sell and stuff. Comon', let's go!"

Despite the fact that she was carrying a heavy stack of paper, or that she had just recently rehabilitated enough to be able to walk without crutches, Rin ran in the direction of the said bulletin board with the enthusiasm and speed of a rabbit toward lettuce. Kagome and Sango followed sluggishly, hunched over with the weight of their stacks.

But when they had finally caught up to Rin she didn't look nearly as enthusiastic. She was staring up at what they assumed was the bulletin board, her brow furrowed and frowning. It was very large; three times as tall and ten times as wide as the small girl who stood in front of it.

"What's wrong, Rin?" Sango looked to Kagome who shrugged and walked over to Rin to see what was up. When she got there her eyes became wide and her mouth flew open. "Oh no…"

A feeling of dread washed over Kagome as she reluctantly joined them, and when she saw what they were looking at, she knew that the feeling had been appropriate.

From corner to corner, from top to bottom, there was nothing but 'missing' fliers. Pictures of men, women, children, teenagers… you name it, and rewards bigger than 4,000,000 yen. "MISSING. HANA ITO. 7,000,000 YEN REWARD." "Have you seen this boy?" "Please help us find our daughter!" To a stranger, Souta's flier would be nothing more than a lost cause amongst this sea of faces. It was completely and utterly hopeless. She was never going to see her little brother again.

Her knees buckled and hit the tile floor hard. She didn't feel the pain though. All she could feel was the empty place in her heart where Souta had once been. That and the sobs that shook throughout her entire body.

And she thought she couldn't cry anymore…

Kagome went to school the next day in a zombie-like trance. The other students stared at her as she walked to class, whispering to their friends and giving her sympathetic looks. Kouga pulled her close and scowled at them threateningly.

"Ignore them, Kagome."

She did ignore them. She ignored everything, even Kouga's demand to ignore them. She just couldn't bring herself to care about anything anymore.

A perfect example of something she didn't care about was genomes and sexual reproduction, but that was exactly what Mrs. Akito was talking about in her first period biology class. Kagome stared off listlessly as the teacher discussed eukaryotic genomes and meiosis, not even bothering to pretend like she was taking notes.

It was no relief to her when the bell rang for second period. She would just have to deal with Ms. Natsuya and Ayame and her thugs. She gathered up her things and made her way to Sango who was waiting for her at the door.

"Kagome," Mrs. Akito said from her desk. "Could I speak with you for a moment?" _Great. This is probably about me not taking notes. Can't anyone give me a break?_

Kagome waved goodbye to Sango and took a seat in the chair that Mrs. Akito had just pulled up to her desk.

"Here," she said as she handed her a few sheets of paper stapled together. They were still warm from the printer. She looked them over in confusion.

"These are the notes from today…" she said to herself as she scanned over the text. "Wow… thank you, Mrs. Akito." Someone was giving her a break after all.

"You're more than welcome, Kagome."

The teacher was silent as she flipped through the notes, and when Kagome looked back up, the woman had tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Kagome!" Mrs. Akito pulled her into a tight hug and sobbed into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry! I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through…"

Kagome blinked, and she couldn't help but feel a little touched that someone outside of her family and small group of friends cared so much. Her automatic response was "I'll be okay, Mrs. Akito" even though it was a total lie. She patted the back of her weeping teacher.

"Look at you..." she laughed between sobs and pulled away to wipe her tears. "Comforting me when it's you who needs the comforting!"

Kagome smiled, but Mrs. Akito still saw the sadness in her eyes.

"Kagome, we're going to find your brother!" she promised with Sango-like determination. "Don't you worry about a thing, you hear?" The teacher took Kagome's hands in her own and blinked away a few new tears. "And you don't have to take notes or do any homework until you feel like it."

"Thank you, sensei. It means a lot."

Mrs. Akito walked her to the door and asked her who her second period teacher was. She promised to call Ms. Natsuya to explain her tardiness.

"You be sure to come to me if you need anything," she said before she embraced Kagome once more. Kagome actually felt a little consoled as she leaned into the hug. It was nice to have a teacher who cared.

However, she certainly didn't expect Ms. Natsuya to care very much. When she knocked on the gates of Hades, she expected nothing more than to see Satan glaring daggers at her for being late. She was a bit surprised when a timid looking mouse-demon answered the door and smiled nervously at her.

"Hi. You must be Miss Higurashi. Mrs. Akito told me you'd be coming." He stood aside to let her in. "I'm Mr. Moushi, and I'll be your substitute today."

Kagome found it a bit humorous that his last name sounded kind of like 'Mousey'. She gave him a 'hello' and a polite smile before taking her seat by the window.

Mr. Moushi's attempts at teaching were futile. The poor guy was so nervous and soft-spoken that he couldn't get a word in edgewise over the chatter of the indifferent students. Kagome felt sorry for him, but she couldn't help but be glad that she wouldn't have to do any Algebra today.

"So is it really true that Ms. Natsuya's gone missing too?"

Kagome blinked and tuned in to the conversation that was going on between two students who sat behind her.

"That's what I heard," another voice, a female one, replied. "She didn't come in to work today so they called. They couldn't get an answer so they called her sister and she apparently can't find her anywhere. I overheard the principle and assistant principle talking about it."

"Oh my God," said the boy. "That's horrible!"

_Not Ms. Natsuya… _Kagome couldn't deny that she didn't like the women, but she didn't want her to get kidnapped! She couldn't help but feel a little guilty. After all, it was less than five minutes ago that she had mentally referred to her as Satan.

Ms. Natsuya wasn't the only absent teacher that day. Her fourth period history teacher, Mr. Myoga, had also been replaced with a substitute.

"Where's Myoga-sensei?" Kagome asked Ayumi in a whisper as the substitute, a tall, thin neko woman, lectured. For a scary moment she wondered if he had been kidnapped too.

"Oh, you didn't know? Mr. Myoga hasn't been here since Wednesday. He quit."

"Quit? Why?"

"Ms. Higurashi!" the substitute scolded. Kagome turned away from Ayumi and looked to the teacher with a frown. Substitutes didn't have the right to be so mean…

"Why don't you tell the class about the Law of 150?"

"Umm…" She glanced down at her text book but it wasn't even turned to the right page. "It says that demons can't live for more than one-hundred-fifty years because of over-population and stuff?"

"Very good," the woman said sarcastically, glaring down at Kagome through her spectacles. "Now can you tell us something that we don't know?" A few people chuckled.

Ayumi came to her rescue. "The law was created after the Anti-Separation movement to prevent over-population and starvation. There was a lot of resistance toward the law at first, but it was eventually passed. A demon is allowed to live for one-hundred-fifty years and then they are euthanized, but if they contribute well to society, the military, medical research, or anything else of any importance, they are allowed to live longer."

"Thank you, Ayumi." Now satisfied, she walked back to the board and continued her lecture.

Kagome mouthed a thank you to Ayumi and tried to pay attention for the rest of the period, hoping to avoid another confrontation from the cruel substitute. Morbidly enough, she found herself actually interested in the Law of 150. What would it be like to know the day you were going to die?

"Kouga, do you ever think about the Law of 150?" Kagome asked into the phone later that evening. She lay in Souta's bed, absentmindedly folding one of his fliers over and over until the creases in it had turned into tears.

"I try not to." He laughed. "I still have a while until my one-hundred-fiftieth birthday anyway."

"Yeah, but isn't it kind of sad? I mean, you _could_ live for a thousand years but you're only allowed to live for a little more than a hundred."

"Yeah, it does kind of suck…" He paused for a moment in thought. "I guess it's necessary though. There wouldn't be enough room for us all if we demons got to live out our entire life span. What are you complaining about, anyway? You only get to live to ninety if you're lucky. Unless you're mated…"

There was an awkward silence. Kouga had realized that he made a mistake by mentioning the "M" word. Mating was an extremely embarrassing subject to talk about. So embarrassing that it was almost taboo. Being mated was different than being married. Marriage was reversible, but mating was a bonding of the souls. There was no 'de-mating', and it wasn't done casually. A demon would only mate someone who they were extremely in love with. Otherwise, why would they make such a huge commitment? If mates were separated, or even worse, if one mate died, the pain would be indescribable. Demons have died from losing their mates.

"Well, I just think it's really sad," Kagome continued as if you-know-what had never been mentioned at all. "I just wish there was another way. Maybe they could put a restriction on how many kids people can have or something…"

"You shouldn't worry about it, Kagome," advised Kouga. "You have enough to worry about these days as it is."

Kagome frowned and looked down at the torn face of Souta that she held in her hands. "Yeah, you're probably right…"

"Don't get all sad on me. We're going to find him, Kagome." He was the third person who had told her that that day. She just wished she could believe it. "I should probably go. I'm supposed to be at that damn dentist appointment that mom scheduled for me."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He paused for a moment, not wanting to leave her. "Bye…"

"Goodbye."

Kagome hung up her phone and frowned at it. She hadn't want Kouga to leave either, but she supposed it wasn't his fault he had a dentist appointment. Besides, Mr. Takahashi was expecting a week's worth of make-up work by tomorrow and she probably needed to get started on it.

Her literature book, however, was nowhere to be found.

She blinked, and looked through the backpack again and then a third time. It was a pretty big book; there was no way she could have looked over it, could she? Frustrated, she dumped the contents of the entire backpack onto Souta's bed. A few notebooks, more Souta fliers, several pencils, and a tube of Chap Stick, but no literature book anywhere. She must have left it in her locker.

She almost didn't care. She almost said "Screw it!" and knocked all of the stuff off of the bed to take a nap, but part of Kagome still cared about her grades. It would be impossible to pass Mr. Takahashi's class if she didn't turn in the pile of make-up work, and there was no way she was taking that class again.

So she groaned and picked the phone back up. Who could she get to take her back to school? Her mother was meeting with the search party she had recently organized, and Kouga was on his way to the dentist.

_Wait... Miroku has a car..._

She dialed Miroku's number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Miroku. This is Kagome. Are you busy?"

"You know Kagome, I don't think Sango would approve of you asking me out."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Actually, I forgot my literature book and I need someone to take me back to school. Kouga and my mom are both busy."

"I'd love to help, Kagome, but I'm already late for work as it is," he said apologetically.

"Do you think you could manage to drop me off on the way? I'll have someone else pick me up when they can. Until then I'll just work on my homework in the library or something. I really hate to make you later than you already are, but if I don't make up all of my literature homework I don't think Mr. Takahashi would hesitate to fail me."

"I think I could manage that. I really hate to just leave you there, though. If I can, I'll come get you during my break. I'll be there to pick you up in like five minutes."

"Thank you so much, Miroku! I'll wait for you outside." She ended the call and began to get her things together-not only pencils and paper, but also her pajamas and toothbrush. Maybe she would spend the night at Cherry Blossom Children's Home and have Rin help her with her massive amount of homework. She called her mother and told her about her plans, and she agreed.

"Thanks, Miroku." Kagome slammed the passenger side door of the black Camry and made her way toward the school's entrance. "Anytime!" Miroku yelled after her before driving off.

East Tokyo High usually stayed open until around eight pm. Even when classes had ended, the school was still needed for tutoring, afterschool detention, and practices of all sorts. The library also stayed open, and they served free coffee to students who came there to study or do their homework. Despite so much activity going on in other parts of the school, the sophomore hallway was eerily quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the tip-tap of her own footsteps as she made her way to her locker.

"There you are," Kagome said under her breath when she opened her locker to see the wide spine of her literature book amongst the other textbooks and binders. She would work on her homework and sip on coffee in the library until Kouga could pick her up. His appointment probably wouldn't last more than an hour. She made her way back down the hallway and toward the elevator at the end of the hall.

_"His name is Souta Higurashi."_

Kagome blinked and stopped in her tracks. Someone had just said her brother's name. Whoever said it was female, and they spoke only a little louder than a whisper. She looked around to make sure that she was the only one in the hallway. She was.

"Sounds kind of familiar. If he's a kid he's probably still on the island," said the deeper voice of a man.

The voices; they were coming from... her biology classroom? She pressed herself tight against the wall and peeked into the slightly ajar door. She could see Mrs. Akito sitting on her desk with her legs crossed, a tall demon with a long, black braid leaning against the board, and a little bit of another man who, from what she could see, was fairly large in stature and definitely not human.

"Yeah, we still can't do it on children," the demon with the braid said. He sounded young.

"That's a shame," Mrs. Akito replied with a pout. "Your scientists are absolutely brilliant though. I'm sure they'll figure it out."

"I have no doubt in my mind, Yumi." The braided demon smirked at her. She bit her bottom lip in what Kagome guessed could only be seduction.

_Isn't she married? That isn't her husband, is it? What are they talking about?_

"I have to say that you're very brilliant yourself," the demon who she couldn't see interrupted. "You've put on a very good act. None of your students suspect anything! Not even the sister to that boy you were talking about."

Kagome tensed. _What? _

The teacher smiled pleasantly toward him. "Thank you, Manten, but you mustn't give me all the credit. I'm not the only teacher here who's done what they can to keep the _humans_ out of the know." She spat the word 'humans', as if it were disgusting. "And believe it or not, many of our fine demon students have DIO memberships."

_Keep humans out of the know? And what's a dioh?_ Kagome had no idea what was going on, but she didn't like what she was hearing.

"The idiots won't be clueless for too much longer," the braided demon said with amusement.

"Your right, Hiten. I think this calls for a little celebration." She stood up from her desk and smoothed down her skirt. "Come. I keep a bottle of wine locked up in the lab's supply closet."

"Now that's my kind of teacher!" said Hiten. Kagome stood completely still as they made their way to the small laboratory connected to the classroom.

She was going to have to get within a better hearing range to find out what they were talking about. Mrs. Akito and these people, whoever they were, knew something about Souta and she was going to find out exactly what.

She eased into the door as gently as she could and looked around frantically for a hiding place. She still hadn't found one when she heard the click-clack of Mrs. Akito's heels coming back to the classroom. With no other option, she darted under the teacher's desk, desperately hoping that the woman wouldn't want to sit at it.

Kagome thanked the gods when she took her original seat on top of the desk. The only thing she could see was the heels of the black boots of the two other men. She assumed Manten was the one with bigger feet. He was sitting in a nearby chair, and Hiten was leaned against the desk beside Mrs. Akito. She could smell the dirt on his boots.

"We and several others should be here around noon tomorrow. It would help a lot if you could keep your students in a group. It's such a pain when they scatter about..."

"Yeah," agreed Manten. "Just lock them in the lab or something. Tell them it's a good hiding place. Ha-ha!" Mrs. Akito laughed. "Yes, they're dense enough to believe it, too."

"I would like to make a toast," said Hiten. "To all of us and to the invasion of Tokyo, the only city in Japan that has yet to be conquered!"

"Cheers!" Mrs. Akito said happily, and Kagome heard the cling of glasses. _The only city that has yet to be... what?_

"No longer will we have play nice with the filthy mortals!" Manten chuckled with merriment.

"Now, the world belongs to us," declared Hiten, and the three of them laughed together in high spirits.

Kagome's heart was beating so hard that she was afraid that the demons in the room would hear it. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her Biology teacher and these strange men had something to do with recent kidnappings, and it sounded like they had something much more sinister in mind. _Invasions? _What was going on? She had to tell someone. She had to get out of there and call the police. She tried to slow down her breathing as she waited for the others to leave the room.

"I guess we better get goin'," said Manten. "Kagura will have our hide if we don't file today's report."

"Why don't you do that? Can't you see that I have a beautiful woman to entertain?" Hiten replied. Mrs. Akito giggled.

"You know, I'm tired of being the one who files the reports while you're the one you lollygags around with women," snapped Manten.

Hiten started to retort, but Mrs. Akito interrupted him. "It's fine Hiten," she began as she rose from her desk. "We can all go, and then you can proceed to entertain me at your apartment."

Kagome could hear the click-clack of her heels as she made her way toward the door. She heard Manten grumbling and then two heavier sets of footsteps followed her.

They had almost left when a loud vibrating noise erupted throughout the room. Kagome was concentrating so hard on the departure of Ms. Akito and the two men that it took her a moment to come to the terrifying realization that her cell phone was going off. Her heart sunk to her stomach. What a terrible time for a phone call.

_For every night I pray, I know you will stay, look at us baby, look at us now, we made it baby, look at us now. Everybody believed we would never be, look at us up above, we are so in love…_

The clicking of Mrs. Akito's high heels stopped. "What was that?"

_Oh no! _The first idea that popped into Kagome's head was to make a run for it, but while trying to get out from under the desk, she backed into a book shelf, causing several copies of _The World of Biology _to fall on top of her.

She was dizzy from being struck in the head by the corner of a very large text book, and for a brief moment forgot where she was. She was reminded, however, when two large hands grabbed her tightly by the ankles and pulled her out into the open. The hands belonged to a hefty, shark-like demon with pointed teeth.

A scream had barely escaped her lungs when Mrs. Akito pressed the palm of her hand firmly over her mouth. "_Shit!_ I had no idea she was in here!"

She struggled violently against their hold, but the demon with the black braid pinned her arms roughly to the floor.

"_Fucking stay still!_ Quickly, Manten!" he shouted.

"Oh, yes—of course!" The creature fumbled with one of the many pockets of his overcoat before finally pulling out a very long, thick needle that was connected to a vial of mysterious blue liquid.

A shot…

Kagome's eyes were wide with panic, and she struggled even harder against the demons' hold, her unheard cries muffled into Mrs. Akito's hand.

But she didn't even have time to feel the pain of it being jabbed into her neck before she fell limp with unconsciousness.


	8. Invasion

**A.N.: **In this chapter I will introduce my utilization of multiple POVs! (What timing, huh?) Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a bit to see how Kagome's predicament unfolds, but do not fret—you will find that Sango's life is about to get very interesting as well.

Chapter 7

Invasion

"_An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come." ~Victor Hugo_

"And she was fine when you last saw her?"

Sango Taijaya made her way to her third period literature class, her books close to her chest and Miroku by her side. She hadn't found Kagome's absence in their first period Biology class particularly peculiar considering that it had been less than two weeks since her little brother had gone missing, but still she couldn't help but be worried with the number of human disappearances on the rise.

"Yeah. She was in a pretty good mood compared to how she's been lately. She was mostly worried about her literature homework."

"And she said that someone else was going to pick her up?"

"Either Kouga or her mother, I don't remember which. I told her that would try during my break, but Mr. Fujiwara left me with ten new boxes to stock, and I didn't have the time."

Sango frowned and looked down toward her books, not feeling reassured.

"Sango," Miroku sighed. "Kagome's fine; stop worrying. She's probably stayed up all night doing her make-up work and didn't feel up to going to class today. You also have to remember that it's only been a week since-…"

"Yeah, I know," Sango interrupted with a forlorn sigh. "You're probably right. I'm just being paranoid… and what're _you _looking at?" she snapped at a tall, female coyote-demon who was sneering at them by a water fountain. She laughed at Sango's words, shook her head and walked past them.

"What the hell was that about?" Sango glared daggers over her shoulder at the coyote girl's back.

"I don't know." Miroku frowned in thought. "I just thought it was my imagination, but I've noticed people giving me looks all day as well."

Once Sango and Miroku had begun to pay attention, they realized that it wasn't just their imaginations; people _were_ giving them looks. But not all people-the humans they passed simply smiled or averted their eyes. The demons were the ones glowering at them, smug grins stretched across their faces.

Sango was feeling a little uneasy about it all by the time she had reached her class. Nearly every demon they had passed had given them a nasty look. Had a rumor been spread about her and Miroku? But if that were the case, wouldn't humans be giving her looks too? Besides, the look wasn't shocked or disgusted like they had been told a bad rumor, but more so amused. She couldn't figure it out. There were also the lanyards. Every one of them had a bright orange lanyard hanging around their necks with a plastic ID cover attached. Sango squinted to see what one of the ID's said, but all she could make out was "DIO" in bold letters. _The DIO? What is that… Some sort of club?_

When they reached her classroom, Miroku kissed her cheek before heading for his own third period. "See you, Sango."

Upon entering her literature class, Sango was surprised to see that someone was sitting in her usual seat. Her literature teacher, Mr. Sato, had never given them assigned seats, but she enjoyed sitting by the window so that she gaze outside when the class got boring. That is where she had sat since the first day of school, and no one had ever tried to take her seat before.

"Hey Kaori, you're in my seat!" she yelled over in playful anger as she walked up to the desk and sat her books on top of it.

The raccoon-demon looked her over with a raised eyebrow, looked back to his friend, and rolled his eyes with a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Sango scowled and clenched her fists, starting to really get angry. _What's everyone's problem today?_

"What's funny is that you think you're worthy of even talking to me, human," the demon spat, looking her over with disgust. "Now scamper off before I really get mad." And with that he pushed her books off of the desk and onto the floor.

Sango stared in bewilderment. _He did NOT just…_

"You better pick my books up_ NOW_ and get you _ASS_ out of my _SEAT _before I-…"

"Is there a problem here?" came the deep voice of Mr. Sato from behind her.

"Yes," said the raccoon calmly. "This human is harassing me."

Sango turned around quickly to face Mr. Sato with fiery anger in her eyes. "That little prick_ stole_ my seat, was _extremely_ rude to me, and pushed my books off onto the floor! _…And why do you keep addressing me as human?" _she added, turning back to Kaori. She noticed that he too had a bright orange lanyard around his neck.

The raccoon got that same stupid smug look on his face, and his friends chuckled at some unknown amusement. Sango still didn't know what was so funny, but she knew that they wouldn't be laughing for long. Mr. Sato was going to let them have it. The boar-demon was probably one of the only teachers that she was fond of, and they had a really good relationship. He had taken a liking to her on the first day or school, called her 'sweety', and teased her about her temper. She made fun of his short stature and called him by his first name. It wasn't unusual for him to stay after school to help her with her homework or for her to stay after school to help him grade assignments.

"Sango," he began with a discontent sigh. "Please find another place to sit."

She blinked and looked to him to see if he was joking. He wouldn't even look her in the eye.

"You heard the man," said one of Kaori's friends. "Skedaddle."

Sango couldn't believe it. Had he really just taken their side? She stared in disbelief as Mr. Sato walked back to his desk before gathering up her things and storming off to a faraway desk on the opposite side of the room. The demons she passed on the way there sneered at her and snickered amongst themselves as she walked by. The humans, on the other hand, looked as shocked as she felt. She slammed her books down on her new desk, plopped down in the seat, and crossed her arms in anger.

_You can grade you own papers from now on, asshole…_

"Mr. Sato? You have to be kidding! I thought he liked you?" Miroku stared at Sango in disbelief as she put her things away. She had relayed the entire incident to him and Rin on their way to the cafeteria.

"He did. He _adored_ me… I don't get it. He wouldn't even look me in the eye. It was like he was ashamed or something." Sango frowned in thought. "And the way Kaori kept calling me human…"

"It troubles me," said Miroku. "Why is everyone acting so oddly today?"

"And wearing lanyards," added Rin.

"Not everyone," Sango reminded. "Just the demons."

The three descended the stairs silent and lost in their own thoughts and speculations. Sango's story had made them a little late for lunch, and with most of the students already in the cafeteria, the first floor of East Tokyo was unusually quiet. With the auditorium, gymnasium, library, and lunchroom all on this floor the silence was something that they weren't used to. Sango frowned when she imagined the length of the lunch lines.

The only sound that could be heard was their footsteps when the silence was suddenly pierced by the muffled ringtone of Sango's cell phone. She blinked. It was unusual for her to receive a phone call during the school day since most of her friends were at school with her and her family members knew not to call her during class hours.

"Maybe it's Kagome," she wondered aloud as she rummaged through her bag for her phone. She was surprised to see that the number on the screen belonged to her father.

"It's my dad," she informed Miroku and Rin who were both peeking over in curiosity. She pressed the answer key. "Hello?"

"_Sango_," came her father's voice in a panicked whisper. "Sango, are you okay? Are you safe? Listen, I need you to go to the middle school and get your brother. Get your brother and _hide_. Me and your mom will find you when we can."

"Dad? What are you talking about? Where are you?"

"_HURRY SANGO!_ Find your brother _NOW_! There's an army headed for that school and they're snatching humans! They've already been through here. Me and your mom are hiding. Please Sango, just hurry! I don't know what they're doing, but it's gotta be bad."

"_An army? _Dad, what are you talking about? I don't-…"

She was interrupted by the distant sound of screams coming from the cafeteria. She felt her heart pace quicken and a chill run down her spine as she realized that her father had been disconnected.

Miroku must have noticed that something was wrong by her expression and was looking at her with concern. "What did your father need, Sango?"

"Is that screaming?" Rin frowned toward the direction of the lunchroom.

"I-I think we should go, guys," Sango said, taking a few steps back and she looked toward the direction of the increasing volume of screams. "Come on." She grabbed a surprised Rin's hand and hurried off in the opposite direction, back down the hall and past the stairs, her heart beating out of her chest and adrenaline pumping.

Miroku blinked and followed. "Go? Where are we going?" He looked back over his shoulder toward the cafeteria.

"My father… He said that he needed me to get my brother and hide. He said something about an army. It sounds crazy, I know… I just feel really uncomfortable with how everyone's been acting today. And those screams… I feel like something is wrong. Dad's a joker, but I don't feel like he would joke about something like that."

They were heading toward the main entrance of the school. Sango wanted to leave as quickly as she could. She wanted to pick up her brother from the neighboring middle school and go home to see what was going on. Maybe it was a just a joke and the screams were coincidental. Maybe everything was fine and all she was doing was getting herself, Miroku and Rin in trouble for leaving school early—still, her gut instincts were telling her to run.

Miroku and Rin didn't question her resolve. In fact, they looked just as uneasy as she felt as they made their way down the main hall. They were almost to the glass double doors when they saw a group of people stepping out of the principal's office.

"I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE DOING INSIDE OF MY SCHOOL!"

It was the principal Mr. Morioka, and he was yelling at a woman who was accompanied by two tall men wearing black armor. The men's faces were covered with masks.

Miroku grabbed Sango and Rin and quickly ducked behind a nearby vending machine that was at the entrance to the adjacent hallway leading to the gymnasium. Rin almost yelped aloud in surprise, but Sango quickly covered her mouth.

"There's no need to raise your voice, Mr. Morioka," the woman said cooly.

"_No need to raise my voice?_ I look out my window and see over a hundred of these assholes standing around on school property with weapons, and I have yet to get a straight answer out of anyone. I am going to ask you one more time- who the _fuck _are you and what the _fuck_ are you doing here?"

Sango's heart was pounding in her ears. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Fine, fine, if you insist on gaining such pointless knowledge," she replied, sounding extremely unintimidated by the principal's yelling. "My name is Kagura Kaze and I am the vice executive director of the Demon Interest Organization. The DIO is currently in the process of launching an invasion on Tokyo. I'm surprised that you didn't already know. Then again, it is possible that you have been identified as a human sympathizer, and by the way that you're acting I would guess as much. Why don't one of you go to the van and print off Mr. Morioka's file? "

Heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway and the front doors could be heard opening and closing.

"W-What? An invasion… _on Tokyo_? What kind of practical joke is this?"

"Practical joke? That's flattering Mr. Morioka, but I'm not quite the joking type nor am I creative enough to come up with a prank this elaborate."

"Well, _Ms. Kaze_, whatever this is, you and your armored goons need to get the hell off of school property before I call the police! I swear to God, whoever is behind all of this is facing_ EXPULSION!_"

She laughed. "You just don't get it do you?"

They heard the doors open again, the sound of returning footsteps and the crinkling of paper.

"Here we are," said the woman. "Ken Morioka…born in 1977…half-neko? Ooh, and you used to be a model, I see? That must be where you get so much confidence…Oh, here it is—you were raised by your human mother, is that correct? Oh dear-yes, a human sympathizer indeed. If you want an ID, Mr. Morioka, you'll have to go to the DIO office and apply."

"How did you know all of that? What are you doing in my personal records? That's it—I'm calling the cops!"

The woman laughed mockingly. "Go ahead; it will do you no good. While you're at it, maybe you should tell them about how my soldiers are currently capturing human students in the cafeteria."

"_CAPTURING STUDENTS_? In _MY _cafeteria! For your sake, you better fucking hope not, lady!"

Mr. Morioka hurried past the vending machine that Sango, Miroku, and Rin were hiding behind and toward the entrance of the cafeteria.

"Soldier," the woman said quietly when the principal was halfway down the hall. "Get rid of him, would you? All he is going to do is cause problems."

Before the eavesdroppers even had time to consider the meaning of her command, the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the hall and Mr. Morioka's brains splattered onto the cafeteria doors.

It took all of Sango's strength to make the hand covering Rin's mouth tight enough to conceal her scream.

"Come on!" Miroku whispered, grabbing Sango's hand, jerking her to her feet and darting down the hallway and toward the gymnasium.

Sango was running on adrenaline now. Her mind was spinning and every muscle in her body was tense. She had just witnessed someone be murdered. This was unreal-this couldn't be happening; not in Tokyo… not in a _high school_. When her body began to paralyze in shock and fear, Miroku would jerk her again and force her to continue running. He was determined to get them the hell out of East Tokyo High.

Rin was the worst off of the three of them. As soon as they were out of earshot of the murderers, she had started gagging and shaking uncontrollably with sobs. Sango and Miroku had to forcibly drag her along as she continuously looked over her shoulder and back down the hallway where they had witnessed the shooting.

"Th-they… k-k-killed Mr…Mr. MORIOKA!" she choked out between sobs, her words barely coherent as a mixture of screams and stuttering.

"Yeah, and they'll kill us too if we don't get out of here, Rin, come on!" Sango jerked her into the entrance of the gymnasium, only to come to the terrifying discovery that there were three armored men guarding the doors that led outside. Miroku quickly pulled them back into the hallway.

Instinctively, Sango held her hand over Rin's mouth to prevent a scream, but thankfully all she did was release a small squeal as the three of them quickly pressed themselves against the wall, listening intently for the sound of running footsteps making their way across the gym floor. There were none. They hadn't been seen.

Though the demons in the gym had not seen them, Sango knew that their future safety was not guaranteed when she looked to her left and her right to come to the sickening realization that they were trapped. Behind them was the gym which was being occupied by three soldiers, in front of them was the main hallway where Mr. Morioka's murderers possibly still resided, down the hallway to the right of them was the entrance to the junior's section of the cafeteria which in no way was an option, and down the hallway to the left of them was the library-a dead end with no exits. They were at a four-way intersection, and they were screwed no matter which way they turned.

"What do we do, what do we do?" Miroku pressed his palms against his temples in panicked thought as he weighed their options of escape. "Okay, there is no way that we can take on armed demons. We'll have to go back to the main hall… Maybe those three have left and we can make it out the front door."

Rin whimpered in protest at the thought of returning to the location that the principal's body still lay and held on to Sango's shirt sleeve as if to keep her there.

Sango looked to the small frightened girl, back to the direction of the main hallway, and frowned. She bit her lip decisively. "That's too risky," she decided. "They probably have someone guarding the main entrance anyway. I think that the library is our best option—maybe we can crawl through a window or at least find somewhere to hide."

Mioku furrowed his brow in contemplation. "I don't know, Sango. The windows are too high up for us to reach, and if any of them decide to search the library, we'll be trapped."

Sango considered Miroku's concern. Whatever they did, they needed to do it and fast. They would not be safe at this crossroads forever. They were going to have to pick a direction, and fast.

She began to insist that the library was there best bet, but their debate was suddenly cut short when the doors to the junior's section of the cafeteria burst open with an echoing thud and a hoard of students piled into the hallway. The fumes of an unknown gas seeped after them, many of the students attempting to cover their mouths and noses as they gasped and coughed violently. A few had collapsed before they had made it very far out of the lunchroom.

Sango had began to run over to help, but stopped in her tracks when she saw at least twenty armored demons swarm out of the lunchroom after them, firing rifles that shot nets and tranquilizers, forcing many more of the students to the ground in either an entrapment of tangled strings or an unconscious stupor.

The students who had not yet collapsed or been captured had begun to surround their location by the gym doors, which meant that the demon soldiers would not be far behind. Miroku grabbed Sango's hand and took a running start toward the library. "Come on!"

Sango grabbed hold of a stunned Rin, and linked together they took off running down the hallway as quickly as they could, sometimes having to push their way past the other students, many of which were running in circles knowing no means of escape or safe place to hide. Some had made the mistake of fleeing into the gymnasium or toward the main hallway. Sango's heart wrenched at the thought of them unknowingly running into the hands of more soldiers. She desperately wanted to warn them, but what would happen if all of students fled to the library? The soldiers would surely follow, and then their escape would be impossible. So Sango bit her lip and kept running, not wanting to admit that the disoriented students were a vital distraction if she, Miroku, and Rin had any chance of escape.

Other than having weapons, the armored demons also had the advantage of being much faster than the humans that they were pursuing, and it didn't take long for them to catch up to the fleeing crowd. Sango watched a tranquilizer dart shoot past Miroku's head and stick into the shoulder of another boy who staggered forward a few more feet before falling to the floor in front of them.

Miroku jumped over the limp body and continued running toward their destination without wasting any time. Sango hadn't reacted as quickly and was forced to trample over the boy's back as she was hastily dragged by Miroku away from the chaos. Once she had made it over the obstacle, she felt her left arm jerk, and suddenly the hand that had been holding onto Rin's was empty.

Her heart fell to the bottom of her stomach and she looked back to see that Rin was no longer linked to her and Miroku, but had tripped over the unconscious boy and had fallen to the ground.

"Rin!" she shouted.

Miroku was still focused on escaping, completely unaware that they had left Rin behind. He continued to drag Sango farther and farther away from their struggling friend as she desperately tried to get his attention over the sounds of screams and firing weapons.

"Miroku, stop! Rin fell down! We left Rin—_STOP_!"

He finally heard her pleas and came to a staggering halt, looking back in shock. By this time she was several feet behind them and was struggling to get back to her feet after being knocked down again and again by other panicked students. She grabbed onto a boy's arm to pull herself up, but was pushed away violently, the boy probably thinking that one of the demons had grabbed him.

Without thinking, Sango took a running start toward Rin. She heard Miroku's footsteps running behind her. She hadn't considered that he could be running after her for any other reason but to aide in helping Rin and was surprised when he grabbed her arm, bringing her to a jerking halt.

"Sango, we have to go! We'll try to save Rin later. We can't go back there. We have to go now!" he exclaimed as he pulled her back toward the direction of the library.

Miroku had seen something that Sango had not seen in her passionate desire save Rin. Several of the armored demons had surrounded Rin's location and were capturing students left and right. In fact, the boy whose arm Rin grabbed had been shot with a net seconds after he had pushed her away. Not only that, but the soldiers were advancing on their location. If they did not leave immediately, chances were that they would never make it to the library. So Sango allowed Miroku to pull her away, watching with tears streaming down her face as the weight of a net pushed Rin to the ground for a final time.

The library doors were coming closer and closer and the crowd of students was thinning. No other students had gone in the direction of the library, and they were the only people on this end of the hallway. As Miroku grasped one of the handles and jerked open the door, Sango looked back to see that two soldiers were in pursuit of them.

"We've been spotted!"

Without answering her, Mioku hurried over to a large, oak bookcase filled with encyclopedias and tugged on it with all of his might, toppling it over and spilling hundreds of books onto the ground.

"Help me!" he shouted as he got behind the bookcase and pushed it with all of his strength.

Sango quickly joined him and with both of their strength they managed to push the heavy bookcase against the library doors. Just as they did so, one of their pursuers had attempted to push the door open but was cut short when it hit the back of the barricade. They watched in fear as the demon's arm reached into the crack to try and push away the barrier.

Sango backed away from the reaching arm and looked upward, her eyes scanning the windows. As Miroku had said earlier, the ceiling of the library was high and the windows were elevated at least fifteen feet from the ground. Even if she stood on Miroku's shoulders, they would still be impossible to reach. She then looked to the shelves in search of one tall enough to stand up on to reach the windows. Most of them were around six feet tall, identical to the one that they used to barricade the door. Just when she was starting to lose hope, she spotted an exceptionally tall row of bookcases in the periodical section that was only about five feet shorter than the windows above it them.

"There!" Sango shouted, pointing to their escape route.

They hurried over and Miroku lifted Sango up onto his shoulders. Holding on the shelves of the bookcase for support, she managed to balance herself well enough to stand up fully erect on his shoulders and grab onto the top of the bookcase. With all of the struggling that she had to do to lift herself on top of it, the entire thing would have probably fallen over if it hadn't been so heavily weighed down by the books it was holding. They heard a loud bang and a jolt of fear shot through them as they quickly looked back to the entrance of the library. The demons that were pursuing them had managed to lift the barricading bookcase up momentarily to have it nosily fall back to the ground.

"I think that it would be in our best interests if we escaped as quickly as possible," said Miroku as they both watched the bookcase continue to be lifted up before it fell back to its original position. If it was lifted up much farther, their barricade would flip over on its other side and their pursuers would be able to open the doors.

With her heart beating a mile a minute, Sango returned to her task. She stood to her feet and studied the window. As she had feared, there was no latch or other method of opening it. These windows had been put in place just as compliments to the architecture of the building, and they would not open by conventional means. They were going to have to break it.

"Quick, find me something to break through this," Sango ordered.

Miroku hurried off at her request. He came back less than a minute later with a metal rod that had once been a leg of a barstool at the library's small coffee shop. He threw it up to her and ran off again, coming back with a small desk. Standing on the desk, he would be able to climb up on top of the tall bookcase and join Sango.

Just as Miroku had pulled himself to the top, the demons had pushed their barricade up higher than ever before. For a heart dropping moment, it looked as if it was finally going to tip over, but after balancing on its corner for a moment, it finally fell back against the door with the loudest bang yet. Knowing that every second wasted could mean their capture, Sango thrust the metal rod against the glass as hard as she could. The glass was thick, and all she managed to do was make a large crack spider web across it.

At that moment, a thump erupted throughout the library that was loud enough to make their ears ring. Before even looking back to the entrance, Sango knew what had happened—the soldiers had gotten in.

"Hurry!" shouted Miroku, confirming what she already knew.

With a final powerful thrust, Sango broke completely through the window, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. She hastily climbed out of the window, ignoring the remaining jagged spikes of glass that scraped her legs, and took a fleeting moment to look back at her pursuers who were running as quickly as they could toward them with their dart rifles ready. On the other side of her was a fifteen foot drop; one that she was willing to take to get away from the demons.

A dart barely missed Miroku as they both jumped out of the window and to the ground below, aiming for the shrubbery to cushion their fall. Sango landed with a painful thud, twigs form the bushes scraping her skin and ripping her uniform as she wiggled deeper into the cover of the leaves. Once she and Miroku were completely concealed, she looked up through the branches and leaves to see the masked face of one of the soldiers peak out of the window, look to the left and to the right, and quickly recede back into the library.

Barely taking the time to catch her breath, Sango made sure that Miroku was okay and cautiously poked her head out to see if the coast was clear.

"They're going to come out here and look for us," Sango whispered as she forced her shaking legs to stand. "We need to find a decent place to hide."

As quickly and as quietly as they could, they abandoned the bushes and made their way to the back of the school where the gardens and greenhouses resided at the bottom of a steep hill. After scanning the gardens from afar to make certain that there were no soldiers occupying the area, they darted down the hill as swiftly as they could and took refuge in a small, inconspicuous tool shed on the edge of the school's property.

It was sweltering hot inside of the shed and there were several wasps swarming around one corner of the ceiling. Despite the unpleasantness of their hiding place, it was a relief to not be within grabbing distance of any of the armored demons. But without any life or death scenarios distracting Miroku or Sango, they finally had the time to take in everything that had happened in most terrifying hour that either of them had ever experience in their lives. Their principal had been murdered. Armed demons had chased them. All of the other human students, including Rin, were captured. And they had no idea what to do next.

Sango stared off in disbelief. She wanted to cry, but she was too shocked. She wished with everything in her that all of this had been a nightmare; that she would wake up in a moment in her room and everything would be normal, but when she sat down on an upside down bucket to catch her breath, she knew that she was awake because the pain that ached throughout her body was real. All of the scrapes and cuts that she had not taken the time to notice before were now throbbing and burning. As she lifted up her skirt to look at a large scrape running across her thigh, she winced and looked down to see a deep slice across the palm of hand that was bleeding profusely.

"Here," said Miroku as he ripped off a piece of his shirt and kneeled down in front of her to tie it around her injury. "It's not a very sanitary bandage, but it might stop the bleeding."

"Miroku," Sango began, staring up at him stunned as he knotted the piece of fabric. "…What just happened?"

Miroku furrowed his brow and looked distant as he concentrated on wiping the blood stains from her fingers. Once he had finished, he sighed and sat down on the floor beside her. "I have no idea."

"What do we do? Do we call the police? _Are _there still police?" Her voice broke with the threat of an oncoming sob. "W-what do they do with the ones they catch? What are they going to do with Ri-…"

She couldn't finish her sentence before the sobs starting shaking throughout her body. She buried her face in her knees and wept for a moment while Miroku rubbed her back, trying to comfort her as he struggled to make himself remain calm.

"We'll save Rin," Miroku said just above a whisper, his eyebrows furrowed in determination. "It was my fault that we didn't stop and help her while we still had the chance. We will find Rin and bring her to safety. After that, we will find out who is behind all of this and stop them. We will save the others as well. You have my word, Sango."

Sango looked up to Miroku amazed, blinking away the last few tears. "Miroku, you-… _it wasn't your fault_." She sighed and stood up, taking a deep breath to try and regain her composure. "Listen, don't start talking like that yet… We don't even know what those people were doing or what all of this is about. We need to formulate a plan and get as much information as we can before we-…"

"Fine, let's formulate one then," interrupted Miroku. "How much do we already know? What was that woman saying to the principal?"

"Uh," Sango began stunned. Miroku's sensibleness and critical thinking skills had remained intact despite the dire situation that they had found themselves in, and she was amazed-amazed and very proud. Even though demon soldiers could burst in and capture her at any moment, she felt safe with Miroku. "Well," she continued. "She said something about an organization launching an invasion on Tokyo."

"Oh yeah," said Miroku, frowning as he tried to recall the memory. "The DIO, I do believe. Did she say what it stood for? Everything happened so fast that I don't remember."

"Me neither," sighed Sango. "All that I know is that she said that they were launching an attack on Tokyo, and she seemed to find it funny when Mr. Morioka threatened to call the cops. She also said something about 'human sympathizers', whatever that means."

"I think that it means exactly how it sounds—people who sympathize with humans. She mentioned Mr. Morioka being raised by a human mother, right?"

"Right!" she exclaimed. "So demons with strong human connections probably didn't know all of this was going to happen. _That's _why all of those other demons were wearing the lanyards! They are part of the organization she was talking about!" Sango's enthusiastic expression then began to fall. "They… knewall of this was going to happen…" Her heart sunk and she felt nauseous. All of the demons who she had gone to school with, many of which she had known since kindergarten, had stood by as the demon army wreaked havoc. How long had they known that this was going to happen?

Mirokus frowned, bothered by the thought as well. Suddenly his eyes brightened and his head snapped up. "KOUGA!"

Sango blinked. "Y-you don't think that he knew anything about this, do you?" She shuddered at the thought of their close friend not warning them about the invasion.

"No, I would bet my life on it. Even if I wasn't certain about his loyalty to me, I am certain of his loyalty to Kagome. Kouga probably knows just as much about this as we do. "

Sango's eyes widened. "Do you think that he could be with Kagome?"

"I'm certain that he ran to her aid as soon as he heard about what was going on! If Kagome is with Kouga, she is safe."

Sango breathed a sigh of relief. There was no guarantee of her friend's safety, but at least it was a possibility. Then she blinked, coming to the sudden realization that her family's safety was even more of a possibility. Her father's phone called has seemed like forever ago, but upon remembering the conversation she recalled that he had said that he was hiding somewhere with her mother and…

"KOHAKU!" she gasped aloud. "I was supposed to go to the middle school and get Kohaku! Miroku, we have to go!" Sango jumped up in panic, losing all composure.

"Sango!" Miroku quickly stood up and grabbed her arm before she could run out the door. More than anyone, he understood Sango's close relationship with her little brother and her strong desire to protect him. Even more so he understood that these protective sisterly instincts could lead to her acting irrationally and endangering herself. Her eyes wide in panic, Sango turned and looked at Miroku as if she dared him to stop her from going.

"Sango, I understand that we must retrieve Kohaku," he began calmly. "But may I recommend that you try to phone your parents first? It is possible that they have already gotten hold of your little brother and that he with them."

Sango's expression softened. "I-I suppose," she replied, still shaken.

After more than twenty phone calls to their family members that led straight to voicemail, Sango and Miroku gave up. Sango was itching to get to Kohaku as quickly as she could, and even though Miroku knew that the mission would be a very risky and possibly pointless one, he also knew that forcing Sango to stay would only lead to her running off on her own at the next given opportunity to find her brother. Even if Kohaku was already with his parents or captured, Sango would not be satisfied until they at the least searched around his school.

They left the safety of the tool shed and made their way to the middle school. East Tokyo Middle School's track and football field were located directly behind East Tokyo High School's gardens. To get to the middle school, they would have to make it across the span of the football field, cross a small road in front of the school, and sneak into one of the entrances, all without being seen.

Miroku's biggest worry was crossing the football field since there was no good way to be sneaky about it. If any of the demon soldiers happened to be at an elevated point of view anywhere nearby, they would undoubtedly see the two figures making their way through the flat, exposed piece of land. Luckily though, they did not see anyone else until they were over halfway through the field. Once they had crossed the fifty yard line, they started to make out the white vans parked on the road in front of the school. There also appeared to be several armored figures standing around the vans and going in and out of the school. As they got closer and closer, they could see that the figures were indeed the demon soldiers and that they were carrying things out of the school and throwing them into the back of the vans.

Once they had made it over the one hundred yard line, Miroku and Sango quickly darted behind a dumpster that sat on the edge of the field, just across the road from the vans. They both peaked around the side of the dumpster to take a closer look at the scene.

In her previous experiences with the soldiers, Sango had been too panicked to actually get a good look at them. Hidden from a close distance, she now had the opportunity to make out the design of their masks and armor as well the various types of weapons that they carried. The demons were not completely covered in armor as she had thought, but were dressed in black latex body suits with a hard black material covering half of their faces, the back of their heads, the curve of their shoulders, their torsos, and the front part of their thighs to the length of their knees.

The masks that they were wearing, also black, were fairly simple in the front, allowing for two cat eye shaped holes for their eyes and ending just below the cheeks so that the mouths of the soldiers were left bare. At the soldiers' hairlines the masks began to take a design that looked similar to an armadillo's back, with elevated sections that were spiked. The spikes stopped at the top of their heads, and a larger, protruding piece covered the back of their skulls. The armor covering the bodies was much less elaborate in design, the only close to complicated feature of it being the belt that held the net rifles, dart rifles, and the more dangerous artillery that they carried.

A female soldier walked down the stairs leading to the entrance of the school carrying an unconscious student over her shoulder. They watched in horror as she threw the young girl in the back of one of the vans and slammed the door.

"I guess that is the cargo that we were seeing earlier," said Miroku.

"Where do you think they're taking them?" whispered Sango.

"I have no idea." Miroku sighed and broke away from his observations to sit on the ground with his back leaning against the dumpster. "But I suppose we will have to wait here until they leave."

Sango nodded and joined him. After just a few minutes, she found herself pacing back and forth, peaking around the side of the dumpster every thirty seconds to see the progress of the soldiers. The wait was excruciating and she was becoming increasingly nervous. Kohaku could be inside of the school in danger as she sat behind a dumpster waiting for the soldiers to leave.

"I wish they would hurry," huffed Sango as she peeked around the dumpster for the fiftieth time. By this time many of the vans had drove away, but the remaining soldiers had continued to descend the stairs carrying more unconscious students. She watched as they threw them into the van one after the other, each landing with a wince worthy thud. Just as the demon soldier was about to throw his last student into the van, their limp neck lolled to the side revealing the face of her unconscious little brother.

Sango stared in shock, feeling as if the breath had been knocked out of her.

"What's wrong? What are they doing?" Miroku asked in concern a moment later. Besides the fact that Sango was stalling longer than usual in her spying of the soldiers, he could also see that she had suddenly gone completely pale and rigid.

"_They have Kohaku!_ Miroku, I have to go get him."

Miroku's heart sunk at her news. Though he hadn't mentioned it to Sango, he had feared that their rescue mission would be in vain and that they would find that Kahaku had already been captured. However, he had not expected that Sango would actually see the capturing in progress.

"Sango, I think that we are of much more use to Kohaku if we stay safe and try to figure out as much as we can for now. I simply cannot allow you to...-"

"I'm sorry, Miroku," she interrupted. "I cannot let them take him somewhere where they could be killing or torturing people for all I know. Next time they're not looking, I'm going to run over there, get him, and bring him back over here."

"That's a suicide mission! Do you really think that you're going to have enough time to run all the way over there and back while dragging an unconscious thirteen-year-old boy?"

Sango had made up her mind about saving Kohaku, but she didn't want to get caught either. Without answering Miroku, she observed the scene in front of her. The van that Kohaku was in was the only one remaining, and the solider who had threw him in the back of it was talking into a CB radio from the passenger's side. The driver of the van was still going in and out of the school, sometimes bringing back students and sometimes coming back only to say something to the other soldier. Still, he was never gone for more than a couple minutes, and it was only a matter of time before the other soldier was no longer distracted or the van drove away completely.

"You're right," said Sango. "There isn't enough time to get him back over here."

Miroku released a sigh of relief and was about to express his gratitude to the gods when Sango interrupted.

"I'm going to have to sneak into the back of the van and go with him," she declared.

Miroku's face fell. "You have to be kidding me, Sango."

"I'm sorry, but he is my little brother and my responsibility... and I won't have you trying to come with me either." Miroku began to protest, but Sango continued. "One of us has to stay on the outside. Please find my family and tell them that I am with Kohaku, and... protect them just in case I don't come back."

And just like that, Sango gave Miroku a goodbye kiss and darted across the road before he could say anything else. She fought back the tears as she pressed against the van and listened intently, making sure that the demon in the passenger's seat was still distracted with the CB radio. It wasn't the time to think about the fact that she may never see Miroku again; that the kiss that she just gave him may in fact be the last one that they ever shared.

She climbed into the back of the van and quickly lay down beside Kohaku.

"Don't worry," she whispered to her unconscious brother. "I'm here."

She heard the sound of footsteps making their way towards the van and closed her eyes to pretend to be unconscious. She was nervous and hoped that the frantic pounding of her heart wouldn't give her away. The footsteps stopped at the back of the van, and she could feel someone's eyes on her.

_Oh no! One of the demons must have noticed that I wasn't here before! I should have buried myself under some of the other students! What was I thinking?_

She tried to stay completely still as she anticipated the pain of a dart or a bullet piercing her skin. To her surprise, all she felt was a hand placed ever so gently on her right breast.

_I'm getting fondled!_

It hit her that she had considered dying, but had not considered anything like this. The reality of the situation was becoming clearer, and it was taking everything within her to stay still.

"That's not really fair, Sango," whispered Miroku. "I got slapped the first time that I did this."

"_MIROKU!_" Sango's eyes shot open and she grabbed Miroku's collar so quickly that she felt dizzy. "You son of a-..."

"I reccomend saving your insults until later," he interrupted. "I do believe that I hear footsteps headed our way."

Sango quickly let go of Miroku and went back to faking unconsciousness. For a nerve wracking moment, she listened as the demon approached the back of the van and slammed the doors shut. The footsteps went around the side of the van, another door opened, and the vibrations of the engine starting shook throughout the vehicle. As the van drove away from the school, Sango rose her hand high in the air and brought it crashing back down to Miroku's face as hard as she could.

* * *

**A.N.: **Oh, I wanted to apologize for taking a little longer than usual with this chapter. I signed up for a free trial with ancestry and was a bit distracted with that for a few days.

I also want to remind everyone that I am immensely thankful for every single one of my reviews, whether it is a criticism or just an "Update soon!" From this point on, I will reply to all of my reviews and return the favor if you have a story based on a series that I am familiar with! :)


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